TEMPEST STP-H8 Antenna and Microwave Brightness Temperatures Version 10.0

This dataset includes satellite-based observations of calibrated, geo-located antenna temperature and brightness temperatures, along with the sensor telemetry used to derive those values. Brightness temperatures are derived from the microwave band frequencies 87, 164, 174, 178 and 181 GHz. This product is best suited for a cal/val user or sensor expert. These level 1c measurements make up the temperature sensor data record (TSDR) from the TEMPEST (Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems) sensor aboard the international space station (ISS), starting in January 2022 forward-streaming to PO.DAAC till the planned mission end in December 2024. TEMPEST swath width is 1400 kilometers and resolution at nadir is 25 km for the 87 GHz channel and 13 km for the 180 GHz channels. Data files in HDF5 format are available at roughly hourly frequency (the ISS orbit period is ~90 minutes), although note that the coverage shown in the thumbnail is for a full day. Files include calibration and flag data in addition to brightness temperatures. Version 10.0 is the first public release, and is named as such to be consistent with the internal version numbering of the project team prior to release.

The TEMPEST instrument is a microwave radiometer deployed as part of the Space Test Program - Houston 8 (STP-H8) technology demonstration mission, with the primary objective of tropical cyclone intensity tracking. It operates nominally on-orbit aboard the ISS and data are non-sun-synchronous. A successful mission will demonstrate a lower-cost, lighter-weight sensor architecture for providing microwave data. TEMPEST was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and flown by the United States Space Force, Space Systems Command, Development Corps for Innovation and Prototyping.