Version 7 TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA)

Version 7 TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis is the latest incarnation of the TRMM-based combined satellite-gauge precipitation estimate (3B42 and 3B43), and provides a number of scientific and processing enhancements over the Version 6 algorithm. The TMPA now includes new, important sources of passive microwave satellite precipitation, including NOAA-18 MHS, NOAA-19 MHS, Metop-A MHS, and F16 and F17 SSMIS. These are in addition to the Version 6 suite that already included TRMM, SSMI, AMSU-B, and AMSR-E. Furthermore, Version 7 now includes the 0.07° Grisat-B1 infrared data during the period 1998-1999 and represents a significant improvement in resolution and areal coverage over the 1° 24-Class histogram infrared data used in Version 6. In addition to new satellite sources, Version 7 TMPA now uses the new GPCC “Full” gauge analysis, when available, and the GPCC “Monitoring” gauge analysis at other times.

At the request of users, the number of output product data fields increased from two to six in the 3-hourly product and from two to three in the monthly product. The new 3-hourly data fields include the satellite precipitation source, the passive microwave-only precipitation estimates, the infrared-only estimates, and the satellite observation time. The new monthly field consists of the gauge relative weighting. These new parameters allow the user much more flexibility in analyzing and understanding the “background” information used to compute the final estimates. Example fields of the Version 7 precipitation will be compared with corresponding Version 6 products and ground validation data.