The Goddard Profiling (GPROF) Precipitation Retrieval Algorithm

Abstract

Early in the 1990s, the Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) was created to retrieve both surface rainfall and hydrometeor vertical profiles from satellite passive microwave sensors. Over the last 25 years it has been the primary algorithm for the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and the follow-on sensor – the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI). To meet the objectives of these missions, GPROF has been designed not just for single sensors, but to consistently retrieve rainfall from the full suite of passive sensors in the GPM constellation. These include Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR2), Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS), Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS), Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS), and the historical sensors, Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I), and the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (AMSR-E).