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    • NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of SSMI(S) and AMSR2 Microwave Brightness Temperatures, CSU Version 2

    Metadata Updated: September 19, 2023

    This NOAA Fundamental Climate Data Record (FCDR) from Colorado State University (CSU) contains brightness temperatures that have been improved and quality-controlled over the observational time period. The temperature data are from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) series of passive microwave radiometers carried onboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites, and from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) carried onboard the Global Change Observation Mission 1st - Water (GCOM-W1) satellite. The dataset encompasses data from a total of 11 satellites including the SSM/I sensors on board DMSP satellites F08, F10, F11, F13, F14, and F15, the SSMIS sensors on board DMSP satellites F16, F17, F18, and F19, as well as AMSR2 on board GCOM-W1. The DMSP satellites F09 and F12 were not used. The data record covers the time period from July 1987 beginning with SSM/I through the present with a 7 to 10 day latency. There are roughly 15 orbits per satellite per day with a swath width of approximately 1400 km resulting in nearly global daily coverage. The spatial and temporal resolutions of the FCDR files correspond to the original resolution of the source Temperature Data Record (TDR) observations. The spatial resolution of the data is a function of the sensor/channel and varies from approximately ~50 km for the lowest frequency channels to ~15km for the high-frequency channels. The output parameters include the observed brightness temperatures for each channel at the original sensor channel resolution along with latitude and longitude for each pixel, time, quality flags, and view angle information. Interim updates to the FCDR, notated as ICDR, are produced on an operational basis as new source data become available. The initially-produced interim files or ICDR files are produced prior to the final FCDR production. Once the data has been fully checked, updates for the final FCDR files are provided approximately every year. There are several changes to Version 2 from Version 1 of the FCDR. 1) The addition of inter-calibrated data from the GCOM-W1 AMSR2 instrument for the period from July 2, 2012 to the present. 2) A change from relative inter calibration to SSM/I on board DMSP F13 to an absolute calibration based on the well-documented and published calibration of the GPM GMI instrument. 3) Multiple updates to geolocation and calibration corrections to the SSM/I and SSMIS brightness temperature data including improved geolocation and pointing information, updated cross-track bias corrections, updated corrections for solar intrusions, and updated inter calibration adjustments incorporating corrections over both cold and warm scenes. The file format is netCDF-4 with added metadata that follow the Climate and Forecast (CF) Conventions and Attribute Convention for Dataset Discovery (ACDD).

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date August 10, 2023
    Metadata Created Date December 30, 2022
    Metadata Updated Date September 19, 2023
    Reference Date(s) January 31, 2022 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update daily

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from ncdc

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    An orbit of 37.0 GHz vertically-polarized (channel 16) brightness temperature from SSMIS on F17.

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date August 10, 2023
    Metadata Created Date December 30, 2022
    Metadata Updated Date September 19, 2023
    Reference Date(s) January 31, 2022 (publication)
    Responsible Party DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.ncdc:C01653
    Access Constraints Cite as: Kummerow, Christian D., Wesley K. Berg, Chia-Pang Kuo, and NOAA CDR Program (2022): NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of SSMI(S) and AMSR2 Microwave Brightness Temperatures, CSU Version 2. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.25921/E3K5-BW77. [access date]., Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long 180.0
    Bbox North Lat 90.0
    Bbox South Lat -90.0
    Bbox West Long -180.0
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update daily
    Graphic Preview Description An orbit of 37.0 GHz vertically-polarized (channel 16) brightness temperature from SSMIS on F17.
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/metadata/images/C00827_CSU_FCDR_T37V.png
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id 09f89494-7a8e-4340-8d91-c330b6bf8608
    Harvest Source Id 2cb3ef77-1683-4c2a-9119-dc65e50917c6
    Harvest Source Title ncdc
    Licence The quality of the output CDR data is dependent on the quality of the input TDR (antenna temperature) data. As such, the near real-time data is labeled as an Interim operational CDR, or an ICDR instead of a final CDR, indicating that it has not yet been fully vetted for climate applications. The ICDR data will transition to final CDR status after the data have undergone further analysis and processing. The expected time lag of the FCDR transition is 6 months to a year. The state of a data file is indicated within each file name., For a complete description of use limitations for this CDR, see Section 6, Assumptions and Limitations, in the respective Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document.
    Lineage The data were produced by Colorado State University and are archived at the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
    Metadata Language eng; USA
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, -90.0], [180.0, -90.0], [180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, -90.0]]]}
    Progress onGoing
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 1987-07-09

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