TRMM data reprocessing (version 6): improvements and new data products

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) has recently completed its latest data reprocessing (Version 6), including many improvements and new data products. (Version 6 reprocessing began on June 1, 2004.) TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall and the associated release of energy. Originally designed to operate for three years, beginning with its launch in November 1997, TRMM has to date continuously acquired more than seven years of data. All TRMM standard products are processed by the TRMM Science Data and Information System (TSDIS) and archived and distributed to the general users by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center Distributed Active Archive Center (GES DISC DAAC).

Most TRMM satellite algorithms frequently are modified (with corresponding changes to their Algorithm Version) to satisfy evolving requirements and achieve the highest possible data quality. With improved science algorithms, the TRMM data are reprocessed on a scheduled basis. TRMM reprocessing of Product Version 6 and its major differences compared with Product Version 5 are described and summarized. These differences vary with the product and include additional parameters and variables, extended spatial coverage, increased spatial resolution, and new products related to latent heating. Documentation includes an updated Version 6 data flow diagram, updated product “readme” files, detailed, side-by-side comparisons between Versions 5 and 6, and updated descriptions of algorithms (in the TRMM Project Web site).

The GES DISC has provided user-focused TRMM data support since the beginning of the mission. The nearly eight years of TRMM data have proven invaluable to numerous users in diverse communities, ranging from research to operational applications. TRMM data and related services (e.g., web-based, interactive visualization and analysis tools) are part of an ongoing GES DISC measurement-based effort to develop a Precipitation Data and Information Services Center. The latter will help bridge the gap between TRMM and the upcoming Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission.