Also referred to as Water Vapor, this product shows the total atmospheric moisture over oceans. The water vapor is derived from the passive microwave sensor SSM/I, which has 7 channels of 19 GHz (H, V), 22 GHz (V), 37 GHz (H, V), and 85 GHz (H, V), where H is the horizontal polarization, V is the vertical polarization. The water vapor varies from 0 to 80 with accuracy of 0.1 kg/m^2. The product is updated once per day at 4 am EST.
This product is generated initially by the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC). NOAA/NESDIS gets the product through an interagency program referred to as the Shared Processing Program in which NOAA, the US Air Force and US Navy participate. OSPO converts the product into HDF-EOS and WMO BUFR formats and distributed to users.