Service Interruption

DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures

Entry ID

NSIDC-0001

Summary

NSIDC produces daily gridded brightness temperature data from orbital swath data generated by the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) aboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F8, F11, and F13 platforms and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) aboard DMSP-F17. The SSM/I and SSMIS channels used to calculate brightness temperatures include 19.3 GHz vertical and horizontal, 22.2 GHz vertical, 37.0 GHz vertical and horizontal, 85.5 GHz vertical and horizontal (on SSM/I), and 91.7 GHz vertical and horizontal (on SSMIS). Thus, a total of nine channels result from vertical and horizontal polarization for each of five frequencies, with the exception of 22.2 GHz, which is vertical only. The gridded brightness temperatures are distributed in polar stereographic projection. Orbital data for each 24-hour period are mapped to respective grid cells using a simple sum and average method (drop-in-the-bucket method). 85.5 GHz and 91.7 GHz data are gridded at a resolution of 12.5 km, with all other frequencies at a resolution of 25 km. All SSM/I and SSMIS gridded brightness temperature data are stored as scaled 2-byte integers in flat binary arrays and are available via FTP.

Geographic Coverage

Spatial Coordinates:
N: -39° S: -90° E: 180° W: -180°
N: 90° S: 30° E: 180° W: -180°

Data Set Citation

Dataset Creator: Maslanik, J. and J. Stroeve
Dataset Title: DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures
Dataset Release Date: 2004-05-10updated 2012
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, Colorado USA
Dataset Publisher: NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Version: 4
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0001.html

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 1987-07-09

Data Resolution

Latitude Resolution: 25 km
Longitude Resolution: 25 km
Temporal Resolution: 1 day

Latitude Resolution: 12.5 km
Longitude Resolution: 12.5 km
Temporal Resolution: 1 day

Location Keywords

CONTINENT NORTH AMERICA CANADA HUDSON BAY
GEOGRAPHIC REGION POLAR
OCEAN ARCTIC OCEAN BAFFIN BAY
OCEAN ARCTIC OCEAN BEAUFORT SEA
OCEAN ARCTIC OCEAN CHUKCHI SEA
OCEAN ATLANTIC OCEAN NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
OCEAN ATLANTIC OCEAN NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN GREENLAND SEA
OCEAN PACIFIC OCEAN NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN BERING SEA
OCEAN SOUTHERN OCEAN AMUNDSEN SEA

Science Keywords

Spectral/Engineering Microwave Brightness Temperature
Spectral/Engineering Microwave Brightness Temperature

Ancillary Keywords

Antarctic
Arctic
EOSDIS
Gridded Data
NSIDC DAAC
Passive Microwave
Polar
Remote Sensing

ISO Topic Category (View Definitions)

Climatology/Meteorology/Atmosphere

Platform

DMSP 5D-2/F11 Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-F11
DMSP 5D-2/F13 Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-F13
DMSP 5D-2/F8 Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-F8
DMSP 5D-3/F17 Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-F17

Instrument

SSM/I Special Sensor Microwave/Imager
SSMIS Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder

Project

EOSDIS Earth Observing System Data Information System
ESIP Earth Science Information Partners Program

Quality

Beginning with January 2000, processing of brightness temperature data was modified to include two additional quality control steps. The first performs a statistical analysis on the brightness temperature data to look for possible calibration errors. The second was an along-scan adjustment that corrects for interference by the cold-space reflector at scans of 100 or greater, and the difference between antenna temperature observations and the Wentz radiative transfer model. Corrections can be as large as one kelvin. brightness temperature data that included these additional quality control steps are only available for dates after January 2000.

Data Set Progress

in work

Originating Center

DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC

Data Center

NASA DAAC at the National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/daac/index.html

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:

National Snow and Ice Data Center

CIRES, 449 UCB

University of Colorado

City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC User Services
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:

National Snow and Ice Data Center

CIRES, 449 UCB

University of Colorado

City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Size: 0.2 to 1 MB
Distribution Format: Binary

Personnel

Jim Maslanik
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Phone: 1 303 492-6199
Fax: 1 303 492-2468
Email: nsidc@kryos.colorado.edu
Contact Address:

National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado

City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309

Julienne Stroeve
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Email: stroeve@nsidc.org
Contact Address:

CIRES
National Snow and Ice Data Center
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado

City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309

Walt Meier
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Email: walt@nsidc.org
Contact Address:

CIRES
National Snow and Ice Data Center
449 UCB
University of Colorado

City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309
Country: USA

NSIDC User Services
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone: 1 303 492-6199 x
Fax: 1 303 492-2468 x
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:

National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado

City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Related URL

VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
Frequently asked questions.

VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
SSM/I Brightness Temperature and Sea IceConcentration Grids: Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)

Reference

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Metadata Name and Version

Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2004-05-10
Last DIF Revision Date: 2012-11-26

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