The Microwave Sounding Units (MSU) operating on NOAA polar-orbiting platforms have been the principal sources of satellite temperature profiles for the past two decades. The MSUs are cross-track scanners with measurements of microwave radiance in four channels ranging from 50.3 to 57.95 GHz on the lower shoulder of the Oxygen absorption band. These four channels measure the atmospheric temperature in four thick layers spanning the surface through the stratosphere.
The UAH satellite temperature dataset, developed at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, attempts to infer the temperature of the atmosphere at various levels from satellite measurements of radiance. UAH provide temperature anomalies on three broad levels of the atmosphere.
▪ The Lower troposphere - TLT (originally called T2LT).
▪ The mid troposphere – TMT
▪ The lower stratosphere – TLS
Variables | Temperature anomaly at lower troposphere (degC) Temperature anomaly at middle troposphere (degC) Temperature anomaly at lower stratosphere (degC) |
Zonal | Global by 2.5 deg |
Meridional | Global by 2.5 deg |
Vertical | Lower Troposphere, Middle Troposphere, and Lower Stratosphere |
Temporal | Dec 1978 to Aug 2014 by 1 month(s) |
Static? | no |
Volume | 732KB per variable per year |
Server | public: |
Source | http://www.nsstc.uah.edu/data/msu/ |
Acquired | Mar 23, 2011 (Updated Oct 2014) |
APDRC contact | |
Supplements |