EOSDIS Data Sampler #3 - TOVS Pathfinder

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TOVS Pathfinder Mission

The Advanced Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS-N) Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) Pathfinder Mission datasets are generated from data held by NOAA. TOVS Pathfinder scientific data products consist of global L3 3-dimensional temperature-moisture structure of the atmosphere. These data are produced using observations made by the 20-channel High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder 2 (HIRS2) and the 4-channel Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) aboard the NOAA TIROS-N series of polar-orbiting satellites. The processing input is a Pathfinder product.

The physically based interactive retrieval methodology is called Path A or model dependent, and produces full retrievals of temperature-moisture profiles as well as fields of other geophysical parameters derived from the data. The model independent methodology, called Path B retrievals is also a physically based full retrieval system, but uses a pattern recognition first guess. Path C generated coarse layer temperature climate indicators based on linear combinations of adjusted observed radiances in MSU channels. They differ in handling cloud effects on the radiances and in the removal of systematic retrieval errors that may differ from satellite to satellite.

The HIRS2/MSU data are used to derive

Land and ocean surface skin temperature
Atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles
Total atmospheric ozone burden
Cloud top pressure and radiatively effective fractional cloud cover
Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR)
Derived products:
- Longwave cloud radiative forcing
- Precipitation estimate

The fields are gridded on a 1-degree x 1-degree latitude-longitude grid. Surface, atmospheric, cloud, and radiative parameters are all produced simultaneously in an internally consistent manner. The data consists of:

Daily, 5-day, and monthly average data.

Time periods:

1979 to 1994 for temperature data (HDF, from GES DAAC)
1979 through May 1994 for oceanic precipitation data (HDF, from GES DAAC)
1979 through present (binary, not HDF, from EDG)

Ascending pass (nighttime) and descending pass (daytime)

Equal-area grids of

2.5 degree resolution (144/72 pixels for 360/180 degrees)

Local TOVS Pathfinder Links

NASA's TOVS Pathfinder MSU Instrument
NASA's TOVS Pathfinder MSU Instrument data products featured on this CD-ROM
NASA's TOVS Pathfinder HIRS2 Instrument
NASA's TOVS Pathfinder HIRS2 Instrument data products featured on this CD-ROM

Disclaimer: NASA offers these suggested sites for additional information regarding the TOVS Pathfinder Mission. Web access is required to reach these sites. Link existence and contents are not under the control of the EOSDIS Science Operations Office.

TOVS Pathfinder Mission Web Sites

NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Programs: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/pathfinder/
The NOAA/NASA TOVS Pathfinder Program: http://nsidc.org/daac/pathfinder/index.html
The Sounder Research Team: http://srtweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/
NOAA/NASA Pathfinder: TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS): Path A Data Summary: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/atmospheric_dynamics/ad_doc_tovs_A_hdf.html
TOVS Pathfinder Path A Data Documentation: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/FTP_SITE/INT_DIS/readmes/tovs.html
Atmospheric Soundings from TOVS: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/FTP_SITE/INT_DIS/readmes/tovs.html
NOAA Polar Orbiting Satellites: http://www.oso.noaa.gov/poes/

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