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Enhanced Resolution SSM/I F13 Image Products

The Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) is a microwave radiometer. Unlike scatterometers it is a passive, recieve-only sensor. Like scatteromters, it has a wide swath and flies in a polar orbit. Due to the low sidelobes of the antenna pattern resolution enhancement is more limited for a radiometer compared to a scatterometer. However, scatterometer and radiometer data complement each other. To aid users, we have produced some sample enhanced resolution radiometer images. Using raw SSM/I data from the Marshal Space Flight Center (MSFC), enhanced resolution images of the polar regions (Ant and Arc) have been generated for SSM/I F13 on the same projection used for scatterometer data. Images for each SSM/I frequency and polarization are processed separately. Sample results for 1996-2004 are provided for the Ant and Arc regions. Note: the SCP only archives a small sample of data. A much more extensive enhanced resolution SSM/I dataset has been produced for, and is available from, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

The SSM/I enhanced resolution image file naming scheme is

FXXY-T-REG-YR-DY1-DY2.sir

where XX is the SSM/I platform (only 13 is currently available) and Y is the channel (1=19H, 2=19V, 3=21, 4=37H, 5=37V, 6=85H, and 7=85V), T is the image type (only A = enhanced resolution Tb is available for SSM/I), and the other parameters are the same as for scatterometer images.

Channels 1-5 are produced on 25 km resolution grids, while channels 6 and 7 are produced on 12.5 km resolution grids.

Arctic (Arc) Arctic (Arc) Arctic (Arc) Antarctic (Ant) Antarctic (Ant) Antarctic (Ant)

Reference:

D.G. Long and D.L. Daum, "Spatial Resolution Enhancement of SSM/I Data," IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 407-417, Mar. 1998.