The Microwave Sounder Temperature Sounding Brightness Temperature (BT) Climate Data Record (CDR) documents upper atmospheric layer temperatures. The Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) instrument measures the mean temperature from a thick layer of the atmosphere using the channel weighting functions in its satellite swath format (level-1c). Input consists of the raw counts data from the Earth and blackbody views saved in the NCEI Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS) library. Raw counts data were calibrated using NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) Integrated Microwave Inter-calibration Approach (IMICA), which produced the consistent brightness temperatures that make up the final CDR. NOAA/STAR IMICA accounts for calibration of non-linearity and artificial instrumental drifts. The final record extends from 1978–present.
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