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Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) from Microwave (MW) Brightness Temperatures, Version 5

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: April 27, 2026 at 05:50 PM | Dataset Last Updated: July 01, 2012 at 12:00 AM
The Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) from Microwave (MW) observations of tropical cyclones worldwide data consist of raw satellite observations. The data derive from the global constellation of geostationary satellites (GOES, Meteosat, MS, and FY2 series) spanning 1987 through 2009. Passive microwave observations provide significant information content given that most clouds are transparent at microwave wavelengths. The HURSAT-MW data set is constructed in largely the same manner as HURSAT-B1. Each time a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite passes over a tropical cyclone, Special Sensing Microwave Imager (SSMI) data are mapped to an equal angle grid (fixed latitude/longitude) centered on the temporally interpolated storm location. HURSAT-MW provides brightness temperatures for all 7 SSMI channels. No product retrievals (e.g., rain rate, total column water vapor, ...) are provided in the data, but are possible (e.g., view the imagery derived from the data). The satellite data were then gridded to 8km, with grid centers fixed on the tropical cyclone center of circulation at 6-hour intervals. Data include hurricanes from the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean Basins. Data are provided in a convenient NetCDF format which is self-documenting and follows standard storage and metadata conventions. Version 5 supersedes all other versions.

Resources

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  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

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  • NCEI Direct Download

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  • Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) Website

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  • New global tropical cyclone data from ISCCP B1 geostationary satellite observations

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  • Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) from International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) B1, Version 6

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  • Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Version 5

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  • Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords

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Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Tropical Cyclones Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tropical Cyclones > Hurricanes Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tropical Cyclones > Typhoons Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Anticyclones/Cyclones Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Sea Level Pressure Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncdc.satorders@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description The Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) from Microwave (MW) observations of tropical cyclones worldwide data consist of raw satellite observations. The data derive from the global constellation of geostationary satellites (GOES, Meteosat, MS, and FY2 series) spanning 1987 through 2009. Passive microwave observations provide significant information content given that most clouds are transparent at microwave wavelengths. The HURSAT-MW data set is constructed in largely the same manner as HURSAT-B1. Each time a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite passes over a tropical cyclone, Special Sensing Microwave Imager (SSMI) data are mapped to an equal angle grid (fixed latitude/longitude) centered on the temporally interpolated storm location. HURSAT-MW provides brightness temperatures for all 7 SSMI channels. No product retrievals (e.g., rain rate, total column water vapor, ...) are provided in the data, but are possible (e.g., view the imagery derived from the data). The satellite data were then gridded to 8km, with grid centers fixed on the tropical cyclone center of circulation at 6-hour intervals. Data include hurricanes from the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean Basins. Data are provided in a convenient NetCDF format which is self-documenting and follows standard storage and metadata conventions. Version 5 supersedes all other versions.
distribution 
                                            [
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.7289/V50Z716H",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Landing page for the dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Direct Download",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/hurricane-satellite-hursat-mw/archive/v05/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Direct Download links for dataset files.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) Website",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/hurricane-satellite-data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Project page with dataset information.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "New global tropical cyclone data from ISCCP B1 geostationary satellite observations",
    "accessURL": "http://remotesensing.spiedigitallibrary.org/article.aspx?articleid=707767",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Journal of Applied Remote Sensing landing page for science paper",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) from International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) B1, Version 6",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.7289/V55X274D",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Landing page for the related dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Version 5",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.7289/V5RF5S0T",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Landing page for the related dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords",
    "accessURL": "https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/gcmd/global-change-master-directory-gcmd-keywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  }
]
identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C00856.xml
issued 2012-07-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Tropical Cyclones",
  "Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tropical Cyclones > Hurricanes",
  "Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tropical Cyclones > Typhoons",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Anticyclones/Cyclones",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Sea Level Pressure",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds",
  "Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Microwave > Brightness Temperature",
  "Geographic Region > Global",
  "Geographic Region > Equatorial",
  "Geographic Region > Global Ocean",
  "Vertical Location > Sea Surface",
  "Vertical Location > Land Surface",
  "SSMI > Special Sensor Microwave/Imager",
  "SSMIS > Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder",
  "DMSP 5D-2/F10 > Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-F10",
  "DMSP 5D-2/F11 > Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-F11",
  "DMSP 5D-2/F13 > Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-F13",
  "DMSP 5D-2/F14 > Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-F14",
  "DMSP 5D-3/F15 > Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-F15",
  "DMSP 5D-2/F08 > Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-F08",
  "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",
  "HURSAT_mw_v05"
]
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2012-07-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
                                            [
  "http://remotesensing.spiedigitallibrary.org/article.aspx?articleid=707767",
  "https://doi.org/10.7289/V55X274D",
  "https://doi.org/10.7289/V5RF5S0T"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 180.0,-90.0,-180.0,90.0
temporal 1987-07-10T00:00:00+00:00/2009-12-14T00:00:00+00:00
title Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) from Microwave (MW) Brightness Temperatures, Version 5

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