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NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of Intersatellite Calibrated Clear-Sky High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) Channel 12 Brightness Temperature Version 3.2 (Version Superseded)

Published by DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: September 09, 2026 at 10:21 PM | Dataset Last Updated: January 01, 2021 at 12:00 AM
*Note: This dataset version has been superseded by a newer version. It is highly recommended that users access the current version. Users should only use this version for special cases, such as reproducing studies that used this version.* The High-Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) of intersatellite calibrated channel 12 brightness temperature product is a gridded global monthly time series product spanning from 1979 to the most current full month, updated monthly. Among the twenty channels in the HIRS instrument, channel 12 measures upper tropospheric water vapor. Multiple polar orbiting satellites in the NOAA Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) and MetOp series have carried HIRS instruments. Due to the independence in calibration of the individual HIRS instruments, biases exist between satellites. Examination of the intersatellite biases shows that the biases are scene brightness temperature dependent. These HIRS channel 12 measurements from the NOAA POES and MetOp series are calibrated to a baseline satellite based on intersatellite bias correction data. The dataset is provided as monthly mean 2.5x2.5 degree latitude/longitude in netcdf format. This CDR is key to understanding water vapor feedback climatology and has been used to study long-term water vapor variability, to evaluate climate models, and to study large-scale atmospheric circulations.

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  • Three decades of intersatellite-calibrated High-Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder upper tropospheric water vapor

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
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describedByType application/octet-stream
description *Note: This dataset version has been superseded by a newer version. It is highly recommended that users access the current version. Users should only use this version for special cases, such as reproducing studies that used this version.* The High-Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) of intersatellite calibrated channel 12 brightness temperature product is a gridded global monthly time series product spanning from 1979 to the most current full month, updated monthly. Among the twenty channels in the HIRS instrument, channel 12 measures upper tropospheric water vapor. Multiple polar orbiting satellites in the NOAA Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) and MetOp series have carried HIRS instruments. Due to the independence in calibration of the individual HIRS instruments, biases exist between satellites. Examination of the intersatellite biases shows that the biases are scene brightness temperature dependent. These HIRS channel 12 measurements from the NOAA POES and MetOp series are calibrated to a baseline satellite based on intersatellite bias correction data. The dataset is provided as monthly mean 2.5x2.5 degree latitude/longitude in netcdf format. This CDR is key to understanding water vapor feedback climatology and has been used to study long-term water vapor variability, to evaluate climate models, and to study large-scale atmospheric circulations.
distribution 
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C01608.xml
issued 2021-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) Program",
  "Satellite",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor",
  "Atmospheric - Upper-air - Upper-air Water Vapour",
  "Vertical Location > Troposphere",
  "Vertical Location > Troposphere",
  "NOAA OneStop Project",
  "Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Profilers/Sounders > HIRS > High Resolution							Infrared Radiation Sounder",
  "Earth Observation Satellites > NOAA POES (Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites) > NOAA POES > NOAA							Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce"
]
landingPage https://doi.org/10.25921/zqqa-ks18
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2021-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
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references 
[
  "https://doi.org/10.25921/mwe8-7e12",
  "https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD014847"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 180.0,-90.0,-180.0,90.0
temporal 1978-11-22T00:00:00+00:00/2023-02-28T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of Intersatellite Calibrated Clear-Sky High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) Channel 12 Brightness Temperature Version 3.2 (Version Superseded)

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