With the launch of the NOAA-17 satellite in June 2002, there now exists a three satellite constellation of measurements from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) which are making global measurements at approximately every four hours (NOAA-17 joins NOAA-15 and NOAA-16). Scientists at the NOAA/NESDIS have been generating operational hydrological products from the AMSU for the past three years in a system known as the Microwave Surface and Precipitation Products System (MSPPS). The MSPPS product suite includes global rain rate and ice water path; land-based surface temperature, emissivity and snow cover; ocean-based sea-ice concentration, cloud liquid water and total precipitable water.

It is the purpose of this paper to utilize the 4-hour sampling from these satellites to explore the diurnal cycle of a number of these parameters on various time scales (daily, pentad and monthly). We hope to employ color animations in an electronic poster to demonstrate the robustness of the MSPPS products.