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SSM/I, SSMIS: Special Sensor Microwave/Imager and Sounder

The SSM/I and SSMIS satellites are operated by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and are part of NASA's Pathfinder Program. The instrumentation has been flown on a number of satellites: F-8 (1987), F-10 (November 1990), F-11 (December 1991), F-12 (August 1994), F-13 (March 1995), F-14 (April 1997) and F-15 (January 2000). Instrument failures have occurred. The SSM/I instrumentation was replaced by the SSMIS on satellites F-16 (November 2005), F-17 (March 2008) and F-18 (March 2010). Satellite failures have occurred and, until recently, there has been little impact on the suite of hydrological products. The SSMIS data have been carefully intercalibrated on the brightness temperature level with the previous SSM/I and therefore extend this important time series of ocean winds, vapor, cloud and rain values.

Years of Record

1987/07 to 2015/06
temporal metadataID:
http://nsidc.org/collections/NSIDC-0032

Formats

Timestep

Daily | Monthly | Weekly

Data Time Period Extended?

yes, data set is extended

Domain

Global

Spatial Resolution

0.25 x 0.25

Ocean or Land

Ocean&Land

Missing Data Flag

missing data present

Earth system components and main variables

Atmosphere, Precipitable water, Precipitation, Water Vapor, Wind

SSM/I, SSMIS: Special Sensor Microwave/Imager and Sounder

The SSM/I and SSMIS satellites are operated by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and are part of NASA's Pathfinder Program. The instrumentation has been flown on a number of satellites: F-8 (1987), F-10 (November 1990), F-11 (December 1991), F-12 (August 1994), F-13 (March 1995), F-14 (April 1997) and F-15 (January 2000). Instrument failures have occurred. The SSM/I instrumentation was replaced by the SSMIS on satellites F-16 (November 2005), F-17 (March 2008) and F-18 (March 2010). Satellite failures have occurred and, until recently, there has been little impact on the suite of hydrological products. The SSMIS data have been carefully intercalibrated on the brightness temperature level with the previous SSM/I and therefore extend this important time series of ocean winds, vapor, cloud and rain values.

Data Access: Please Cite data sources, following the data providers' instructions.

  1. SSMI and SSMIs data products at Remote Sensing Systems
  2. SSMI and SSMIs global and polar brightness temperature grids at NSIDC

Cite this page

National Center for Atmospheric Research Staff (Eds). Last modified 02 Mar 2016. "The Climate Data Guide: SSM/I, SSMIS: Special Sensor Microwave/Imager and Sounder." Retrieved from https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/ssmi-ssmis-special-sensor-microwaveimager-and-sounder.

Acknowledgement of any material taken from this page is appreciated. On behalf of experts who have contributed data, advice, and/or figures, please cite their work as well.