NASA · NASA-849 · record R0454

Retrieving stratospheric water vapor from OMPS Limb Profiler measurements

National Aeronautics and Space Administration · GSFC: Goddard Space Flight Center

Overview

Development stage: DeployedSource: c) Deployed – The use case is being actively authorized or utilized to support the functions or mission of an agency.
High-impact designation: Not high-impactSource: c) Not high-impact
Impact justification: Not reported
Start date: 2025-09-30 (day precision)Source: 09/30/2025 00:00:00
Withheld from public reporting: NoSource: a) No

Mission

Topic area: Science
Operational functions: No function tag matched Derived by keyword rules; see methodology

Problem the AI is intended to solve

Stratospheric water vapor (SWV) plays an important role in atmospheric chemistry, dynamics, and radiative forcing. OMPS Limb Profiler (LP) provides daily near-global coverage and currently operates on two satellites, with plans to launch two additional platforms in the coming years. Developing a method to retrieve SWV from OMPS LP measurements would provide measurements of SWV into the 2030s. However, OMPS LP has low sensitivity to SWV which inhibits the application of traditional retrieval methods. We explored using neural networks to perform these retrievals.

Expected benefits

With the impending loss of Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) which has provided SWV measurements for two decades, our OMPS LP product will serve as a low-cost continuation of the MLS water vapor record until a successor instruments can be developed and launched.

System outputs

Each CNN predicts a water vapor profile. The mean of the predictions comprises the reported OMPS LP water vapor profile, and the standard deviation of the predictions comprises the uncertainty in that water vapor profile.

Technology

AI classification: Classical / predictive MLSource: Classical/Predictive Machine Learning: Models trained on data to make predictions or classifications based on identified patterns or relatio…
System name(s): Atmospheric Chemistry Processing System (ACPS)
Custom-developed code: Yes
Public source code: Not reported

Sourcing

How it was built: Developed in-houseSource: b) Developed in-house
Vendor (as reported): Not reported
Vendors (standardized): None on the standard list

A vendor is the supplier named by the agency. It does not identify the underlying model or AI technology.

Data and privacy

Involves PII: No
Privacy Impact Assessment: Not reported
Authorization to Operate: Yes
Demographic features: Not reported
Training and evaluation data: 1. Aura MLS water vapor data product 2. OMPS LP Level-1 gridded radiance data product at select wavelengths 3. Atmospheric temperature and pressure profiles from the NASA Global Earth Observing System Forward Processing for Instrument Teams product
Federal Data Catalog: Not reported

Governance

0 of 8 minimum-practice questions answered. A blank answer means the agency reported nothing; it does not mean the practice is absent.

Pre-deployment testingNo answer reported

AI impact assessmentNo answer reported

Independent reviewNo answer reported

Ongoing monitoringNo answer reported

Operator trainingNo answer reported

Fail-safeNo answer reported

Appeal processNo answer reported

User and public consultationNo answer reported

Potential impacts and how they were identified

Not reported