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Description

The Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) Ocean Precipitation product (MSUOP) provides gridded upper tropospheric temperatures derived from MSU instruments on several different platforms. The precipitation estimates follow the method of Spencer (1993). Oceanic precipitation is estimated by increased warming in MSU channel 1 over a threshold. The increased warming is attributable to emission by liquid water in the lower troposphere. MSU channels 2 and 3 are used to remove warming due to air mass differences. The MSU instruments measure the thermal emission of radiation by molecular oxygen at four frequencies near 60 GHz.

Product Summary

Platforms
TIROS-N ,
NOAA-12 ,
NOAA-11 ,
NOAA-10 ,
NOAA-9 ,
NOAA-7 ,
NOAA-6
Instruments
MSU
Spatial Extent

N: 60 S: -60 E: 180 W: -180

Location
Troposphere ,
GLOBAL ,
POLAR ,
ARCTIC OCEAN ,
ATLANTIC OCEAN ,
INDIAN OCEAN ,
PACIFIC OCEAN ,
SOUTHERN OCEAN
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
1979-01-01 to 1994-12-31
Data Partner
Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (formerly Goddard DAAC), Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/GESDI
Concept ID
C1261530370-GES_DISC
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
32
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Rain ,
Precipitation Amount ,
Brightness Temperature

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Spencer R., C. J. R. (2026). MSU Daily Oceanic Precipitation with Limb93 Correction [Data set]. NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/QNB71APBUSKS Date Accessed: 2026-02-02

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