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Description
The new version of these data is in GPM-like format and can be found under the name GPM_2AGPROFTRMMTMI_CLIM.
This dataset, 2A12, ”TMI Profiling”, generates surface rainfall and vertical hydrometeor profiles on a pixel by pixel basis from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) brightness temperature data using the Goddard Profiling algorithm GPROF2010. Because the vertical information comes from a radiometer, it is not written out in independent vertical layers like the TRMM Precipitation Radar. Instead, the output is referenced to one of 100 typical structures for each hydrometeor or heating profile. These vertical structures are referenced as clusters in the output structure. Vertical hydrometeor profiles can be reconstructed to 28 layers by knowing the cluster number (i.e. shape) of the profile and a scale factor that is written for each pixel.
This product contains hydrometeor profiles of cloud liquid water, precipitation water, cloud ice water, precipitation ice, rainfall type, and latent heating in 28 atmospheric layers.
Changes in horizontal resolution resulting from the TRMM boost that occurred on 24 August 2001:
Pre-Boost (before 7 August 2001): Temporal Resolution: 91.5 min/orbit ~ 16 orbits/day; Swath Width: 760 km; Horizontal Resolution: 4.4 km
Post-Boost (after 24 August 2001): Temporal Resolution: 92.5 min/orbit ~ 16 orbits/day; Swath Width: 878 km; Horizontal Resolution: 5.1 km
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
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.
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Kummerow, C. (2011). TRMM Microwave Imager Hydrometeor Profile L2 1.5 hours V7 (TRMM_2A12) at GES DISC [Dataset]. NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/L6EI3WVSF59Y Date Accessed: 2026-10-23
@misc{kummerow_2011,
title={TRMM Microwave Imager Hydrometeor Profile L2 1.5 hours V7 (TRMM_2A12) at GES DISC},
url={https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/TRMM_2A12_7/summary},
DOI={10.5067/L6EI3WVSF59Y},
publisher={NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center},
author={Kummerow, Christian},
year={2011},
}
Kummerow, C. (2011). TRMM Microwave Imager Hydrometeor Profile L2 1.5 hours V7 (TRMM_2A12) at GES DISC [Dataset]. NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/L6EI3WVSF59Y Date Accessed: 2026-10-23
Kummerow, Christian. “TRMM Microwave Imager Hydrometeor Profile L2 1.5 Hours V7 (TRMM_2A12) at GES DISC.” NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center, 2011, https://doi.org/10.5067/L6EI3WVSF59Y. Date Accessed: 2026-10-23
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