AMSR-E/Aqua L2B Global Swath Rain Rate/Type GSFC Profiling Algorithm

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Entry ID

AE_Rain

Summary

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) instrument on the NASA EOS Aqua satellite provides global passive microwave measurements of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric variables for the investigation of water and energy cycles.

This Level-2B swath product (AE_Rain) contains instantaneous measurements of rain rate and rain type (convective vs. stratiform), generated from Level-2A brightness temperatures (AE_L2A). The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Profiling algorithm determines rain rate and type over ocean areas, and a Modified GSFC Profiling algorithm over land. Data are stored in HDF-EOS format, and are available from 18 June 2002 to present via FTP.

Data Set Citation

Dataset Creator: R. Adler, T. Wilheit, Jr., C. Jummerow, R. Ferraro
Dataset Title: AMSR-E/Aqua L2B Global Swath Rain Rate/Type GSFC Profiling Algorithm
Dataset Release Date: 2007-06-11Updated daily.
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, Colorado USA
Dataset Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Version: 2
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/ae_rain.html

Dataset Creator: R. Adler, T. Wilheit, Jr., C. Kummerow, R. Ferraro
Dataset Title: AMSR-E/Aqua L2B Global Swath Rain Rate/Type GSFC Profiling Algorithm
Dataset Release Date: 2004-01-01
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, Colorado U.S.A.
Dataset Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Version: 1

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 2002-06-18

Data Resolution

Latitude Resolution: 5.4 km
Longitude Resolution: 5.4 km
Temporal Resolution: Each swath spans 50 minutes.

Location Keywords

• Geographic Region Global

Science Keywords

• Atmosphere Precipitation Precipitation Rate
• Atmosphere Precipitation Rain

Ancillary Keywords

• AE_Rain
• AMSR-E
• Aqua
• BRIGHTNESS TEMPERATURES
• Convective Precipitation
• Convective Rainfall
• DAAC
• EOS PM-1
• EOSDIS
• Ferraro algorithm
• GSFC
• GSFC profiling algorithm
• Imagery
• Latent Heat Release
• NASA
• NSIDC
• Passive Microwave
• Precipitation Rate
• Precipitation Type
• Radiance
• Rain Over Land
• Rain Over Oceans
• Rain Rate
• Rain Type
• Remote Sensing
• Stratiform Precipitation
• Stratiform Rainfall
• Surface Rainfall
• Tb

ISO Topic Category (View Definitions)

• Climatology/Meteorology/Atmosphere

Platform

• AQUA Earth Observing System, AQUA

Instrument

• AMSR-E Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS

Project

• EOS Earth Observing System

Quality

Each HDF-EOS file contains core metadata with Quality Assessment (QA) metadata flags that are set by the Science Investigator-led Processing System (SIPS) at the Global Hydrology and Climate Center (GHCC) prior to delivery to NSIDC. A separate metadata file with a .xml file extension is also delivered to NSIDC with the HDF-EOS file, and it contains the same information as the core metadata. Three levels of QA are conducted with the AMSR-E Level 2 and 3 products: automatic, operational, and science. If a product does not fail QA, it is ready to be used for higher-level processing, browse generation, active science QA, archive, and distribution. If a granule fails QA, SIPS does not send the granule to NSIDC until it is reprocessed. Level-3 products that fail QA are never delivered to NSIDC (Conway 2002).

Data Set Progress

IN WORK

Data Center

NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/daac/index.html
Data Set ID: AE_Rain

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC DAAC 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: approx. 18 MB per half-orbit granule
Distribution Format: HDF-EOS

Personnel

NSIDC USER SERVICES
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
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

Thomas Wilheit, Jr.
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Texas A&M University
3150 TAMU
City: College Park
Province or State: TX
Postal Code: 77843-3150

Christian Kummerow
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
Department of Atmospheric Science
Colorado State University
200 West Lake Street
City: Fort Collins
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80523

Ralph Ferraro
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
ESSIC/CICS
2207 Computer and Space Sciences Building
University of Maryland
City: College Park
Province or State: MD
Country: USA

Robert Adler
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Branch
Laboratory for Atmospheres
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD, USA
USA

Related URL

VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
AMSR-E Web site at NSIDC

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
NASA AMSR-E Web site

Reference

Conway, D. 2002. Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - EOS Quality Assurance Plan. Huntsville, AL Global Hydrology and Climate Center.

Ferraro, R. R. 1997. SSM/I Derived Global Rainfall Estimates for Climatological Applications. Journal of Geophysical Research 102:16,715-16,735.

Ferraro, R. R. and G. F. Marks. 1995. The Development of SSM/I Rain Rate Retrieval Algorithms Using Ground Based Radar Measurements. Journal of Atmos. Oceanic Technology 12 755-770.

Grody, N. C. 1991. Classification of Snow Cover and Precipitation Using the Special Sensor/Microwave Imager (SSM/I). Journal of Geophysical Research 96:7423-7435. Kummerow, C., Y. Hong, W. S. Olson, S. Yang, R. F. Adler, J. McCollum, R. Ferraro, G. Petty, D. B. Shin, and T. T. Wilheit. 2001. The Evolution of the Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) for Rainfall Estimation from Passive Microwave Sensors. Journal of Applied Meteorology 40: 1801-1820.

Kummerow, C., W. Olson, and L. Giglio. 1996. The Evolution of the Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) for Rainfall Estimation from Passive Microwave Sensors. IEEE Transactions on Geosciences and Remote Sensing 34: 1213-1232.

McCollum, J., and R. Ferraro. 2003. Next Generation of NOAA/NESDIS TMI, SSM/I, and AMSR-E Microwave Land Rainfall Algorithms. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres 108(D8): art. no. 8382.

McCollum, J. R., A. Gruber, and M. B. Ba. 1999. Discrepancy between gauges and satellite estimates of rainfall in equatorial Africa. Journal Appl. Meteor 41 1065-1080.

Wilheit, T., C. Kummerow, and R. Ferraro. 2003. Rainfall algorithms for AMSR-E. IEEE Transactions on Geosciences and Remote Sensing 41(2): 204-214.

Kummerow, C., and R. Ferraro. 2007. Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document: EOS/AMSR-E Level-2 Rainfall. Fort Collins, Colorado, USA: Colorado State University. (View PDF File)

Metadata Name and Version

Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2004-02-24
Last DIF Revision Date: 2007-06-01

DIF Text-Only

Directory Interchange Format (DIF) in plain text

DIF XML

Directory Interchange Format (DIF) in Extensible Markup Language (XML)

FGDC HTML

U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM)