Current version: v1.1, 25 Nov 2010
The SSMIS Pre-processing Package (SSMIS_PP) is supplied and maintained by the NWP SAF. This package processes data from the SSMIS instrument on board the US Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) series of satellites. The first SSMIS was launched in October 2003.
As its main output, SSMIS_PP produces BUFR files of brightness temperature from the SSMIS instrument on DMSP F16. These brightness temperatures are corrected for a number of systematic effects in the SSMIS data stream. The primary application foreseen for this data is direct assimilation in NWP assimilation systems.
The SSMIS_PP has been developed at the Met Office as part of the NWP SAF program with the co-operation of the SSMIS Cal/Val team based at the Navy Research Laboratory (NRL) in Monterey, US.
Since 2009, The functionality of the SSMIS_PP has been incorporated into a ‘unified pre-processor’ (UPP) package developed and maintained at NRL. UPP is currently running operationally at FNMOC (Monterey) and is delivering data via NESDIS to the Met Office via the fast Washington-Exeter link. New users interested in this stream should contact the NWP SAF Helpdesk.
The UPP stream comprises unaveraged data, with all channels provided on the sampling grid of the lower atmospheric sounding channels. A separate averaging module is available for this data stream, based on the original SSMIS_PP averaging function. See the technical documentation for more information.