The NASA/NOAA Pathfinder Program funded several projects to produce satellite-derived data sets that specifically address the needs of the polar research community. Four of these projects -- SSMI, SMMR, AVHRR and TOVS -- all with a long-term, large-scale perspective, have coordinated their activities to maximize the potential of these data sets by making their combined use as easy as possible. This effort has resulted in common projection and grid systems; standardized variable and file names; tools for cross-referencing and merging; and a lower resolution, combined data set that includes the most significant variables from each sensor. We call this data set the P-cube. It provides daily grids for the North Polar region (north of 60 deg.) at a 100 km resolution for the following variables:
o Temperature and humidity profiles from TOVS
o Cloud amount and properties from AVHHR
o Surface temperature and albedo from AVHRR
o Sea ice concentration from SSM/I and SMMR
o Ice motion from a combination of AVHRR, SSM/I and buoys.
o Surface pressure from NCEP
Additional variables such as surface radiation fluxes from a combination of AVHRR and TOVS, 10-meter winds from TOVS and snow water equivalent from SSM/I are planned for future versions of the P-cube.
This poster will decribe and illustrate the data set, demonstrate tools for access and manipulation of P-cube and other Polar Pathfinder products, and introduce applications. CD-ROMS containing a 2-year prototype of the P-cube, high resolution samples from other polar data sets, and tools to access them will be distributed.