Earth Science Data Roundup: August 2024

Alaska Satellite Facility Distributed Active Archive Center (ASF DAAC)

Sentinel-1 Burst Archive is Now Complete

The Sentinel-1 Burst Archive at NASA's ASF DAAC is now complete. Bursts are the atomic unit of Sentinel-1 Single-Look Complex (SLC) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data, and standard Sentinel-1 SLC files contain varying sets of bursts. These products are particularly useful for scientists interested in obtaining data for small geographic areas and workflows requiring precise alignment of co-geolocated SLC data through time. However, incomplete overlap between SLC files covering the same region, coupled with the large size of these files, have made it difficult to use the data for time-series analyses, especially when looking at small features like volcanoes or landslides. Now, with access to the complete burst archive, these problems can be addressed.

Learn more about the Sentinel-1 burst archive

Compressed Sentinel-1 Data Files Again Available through ASF DAAC

As of June 25, 2024, ESA (European Space Agency) is again providing Sentinel-1 Ground Range Detected, Single-Look Complex, and RAW-formatted data in compressed zipped files to NASA's ASF DAAC for distribution.

More information about compressed Sentinel-1 data files

Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC)

CERES Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) TOA/Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols FM6-VIIRS Dataset Now Available

NASA's ASDC released the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) Level 2 observed Top of Atmosphere (TOA) broadband radiances and fluxes Edition1C data product.

The SSF granule contains instantaneous CERES Flight Model (FM) 6 Earth viewing footprints offering filtered radiances from the total, shortwave (SW), and longwave (LW) broadband channels and unfiltered radiances from the SW, LW (determined from the difference between total and SW), and LW-channel radiances. The SW, LW, and LW-channel radiances at spacecraft altitude are converted to TOA fluxes based on the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) imager-defined scene. These TOA fluxes are used to estimate surface fluxes.

The VIIRS radiances are used with CERES-specific cloud masks and retrievals to provide pixel-level cloud properties, and these data are averaged over the larger CERES footprint for up to two distinct non-overlapping cloud layers. Each cloud layer has properties such as amount, height, temperature, pressure, optical depth, emissivity, phase, water path, and water particle size. Each footprint contains the VIIRS aerosol optical depth and imager radiance values. Only footprints with adequate imager coverage are included on the SSF product, much less than the full set of footprints that can be found on the CERES Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE)-like Instantaneous TOA Estimates (ES8) product.

The product is distributed in hourly netCDF 4 files, each containing approximately six-tenths of an orbit. The data product temporal range begins May 1, 2018, and is in progress.

Access the new CERES SSF data product and more information

Integrated CERES A-Train Dataset Available

ASDC released the CERES A-Train Integrated CALIPSO, CloudSat, CERES, and MODIS (CCCM) Merged Release D2 dataset. This Level 2 data product uses multiple satellites and instruments—the CERES Flight Model 3 (FM3) and Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) from NASA's Aqua satellite, the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite, and the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) instrument from the CloudSat satellite—to produce high-resolution vertical computed atmosphere fluxes that can be used to compute within-atmosphere irradiance profiles.

The product also contains variables from the SSF product, including CERES-derived TOA SW, LW, and window (WN) irradiances obtained using angular distribution models and computed irradiances. Two sets of SSF variables are included in the CCCM data. One set uses imager data covering the entire CERES footprint, the other set uses only imager pixel data that matches with the CALIOP and CPR ground track.

Access the CCCM data product and more information

Global Hydrometeorology Resource Center DAAC (GHRC DAAC)

New Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) Dataset

NASA's GHRC DAAC released the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) Cluster Integrity, Exception Resolution, and Reclustering Algorithm (CIERRA) dataset. The dataset consists of a hierarchy of Earth-located lightning radiant energy measures, including events, groups, series, flashes, and areas.

The GLM CIERRA data address the artificial flash termination by the GLM ground system by recombining split flashes and filtering out more non-lightning noise. This provides researchers with a powerful tool to better investigate convective storm and lightning activity with more accurate observations, as well as better incorporation of spatial extent observations that can be used for aviation meteorology, lightning safety, and other studies.

GLM CIERRA data are available in netCDF-4 format with a temporal range of January 12, 2017, to March 31, 2023.

Access GLM CIERRA dataset

Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)

NOAA-21 Cross-Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) Beta Products Released

NASA's GES DISC released two Cross-Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS)/VIIRS collocated datasets for sounder science community research, which are known as imager collection (IMG) products. These products are a beta release for the newest satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), NOAA-21. In addition, this version also includes VIIRS I-band statistics alongside the existing M-band values for the first time.

These IMG products supplement the CrIS Level 1B hyperspectral radiance product by providing collocated high-spatial resolution data from the NOAA-21 VIIRS instrument. VIIRS radiance and cloud mask values are grouped and aggregated for every CrIS field of view and are intended for use alongside the CrIS Level 1B data.

The main product—collocated VIIRS Level 1/cloud mask statistical summary (IMG)—consists of collocated CrIS fields-of-view (FOV) with the VIIRS cloud mask and radiances/reflectances. The supplementary product—array indices for collocated VIIRS observations (IMG_COL)—provides data variables that identify which VIIRS pixels are collocated within each CrIS footprint.

Each granule has one IMG product file and one IMG_COL product file and both products are in netCDF4 format. The products are stored in 6-minute data granules that correspond exactly to the 6-minute granules of the CrIS Level 1B product.

Learn more and access CrIS IMG and IMG_COL beta products

Land Processes DAAC (LP DAAC)

New EMIT Level 1B Dataset Released

NASA's LP DAAC released the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) Level 1B At-Sensor Calibrated Radiance and Geolocation Version 1 data product. Along with at-sensor calibrated radiance values, the product also provides observation data in a spatially raw, non-orthocorrected format. Each granule is approximately 75-kilometer (km) by 75-km, nominal at the equator, and some granules near the end of an orbit segment reach 150 km in length. Each granule consists of two netCDF4 files at a spatial resolution of 60 meters (m). Each NetCDF4 file holds a location group containing geometric lookup tables (GLT), which are orthorectified images that provide relative x and y reference locations from the raw scene to allow for projection of the data. Along with the GLT layers, the files also contain latitude, longitude, and elevation layers.

Access the EMIT Level 1B dataset and more information

Lund-Potsdam-Jena Earth Observation SIMulator Global Simulated Wetland Methane Flux Version 1 Data Products Now Available

Four Lund-Potsdam-Jena Earth Observation SIMulator (LPJ-EOSIM) Version 1 datasets are now available. Included in this release are the Level 2 Global Simulated Daily Wetland Methane Flux product, the Level 2 Global Simulated Monthly Wetland Methane Flux product, the Level 2 Global Simulated Daily Wetland Methane Flux Low Latency product, and the Level 2 Global Simulated Monthly Wetland Methane Flux Low Latency product.

These wetland methane flux data products will be used to support the United States Greenhouse Gas Center and its mission to study natural greenhouse gas fluxes. The model will also be used to facilitate improved rapid detection and attribution of climate-carbon feedback and help with strategic placement of measurement campaigns and monitoring systems as they relate to predicted biogeochemical hotspots.

Access methane flux data products and more information

LP DAAC Releases AppEEARS Version 3.58 with New Versions of SMAP Products

Version 3.58 of the Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS) is now available. This release adds the latest versions of Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) products distributed by NASA's National Snow and Ice Data Center DAAC (NSIDC DAAC):

• Level-3 Radiometer Global Daily 36 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture Version 9
• Enhanced Level-3 Radiometer Global Daily 9 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture Version 6
• Level-3 Radiometer Northern Hemisphere Daily 36 km EASE-Grid Freeze/Thaw State Version 4
• Level-4 Global Daily 9 km Carbon Net Ecosystem Exchange Version 7
• Level-4 Global 9 km Surface and Root Zone Soil Moisture Geophysical Data Version 7

Access AppEEARS Version 3.58 and more information

National Snow and Ice Data Center DAAC (NSIDC DAAC)

Two ATLAS/ICESat-2 Level 3B Datasets Released

NASA's NSIDC DAAC released Version 4 of both the Advanced Topographic Altimeter System (ATLAS)/Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) Level 3B Gridded Antarctic and Arctic Land Ice Height (ATL14) and ATLAS/ICESat-2 Level 3B Gridded Antarctic and Arctic Land Ice Height Change (ATL15) datasets.

The ATL14 dataset is a high-resolution (100 meter) digital elevation model (DEM) that provides spatially continuous gridded data of ice sheet surface height. The ATL15 dataset provides coarser resolution—1 km, 10 km, 20 km, and 40 km—height-change maps at 3-month intervals. These improved versions now have a temporal coverage from January 1, 2019, to December 28, 2023.

Access new ICESat-2 Level 3B datasets and more information

Updated Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Sea Ice Concentrations Dataset

NASA's NSIDC DAAC has updated the sea ice concentrations dataset from the Nimbus-7 satellite's Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS), Passive Microwave Data, Version 2 dataset through December 31, 2023.

This dataset is generated from brightness temperature data and is designed to provide a consistent time series of sea ice concentrations spanning the coverage of several passive microwave instruments. The data are provided in the polar stereographic projection at a grid cell size of 25 km x 25 km.

Access updated Nimbus-7 sea ice concentration data

Bootstrap Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS, Version 4 Dataset Updated

The Bootstrap Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS, Version 4 dataset has been updated to include new data through December 31, 2023. This dataset consists of daily and monthly sea ice concentrations derived from brightness temperature measurements and is available for the north and south polar regions with a temporal coverage extending back to November 1, 1978. The data are gridded to the 25-km polar stereographic projection and provided in two-byte integer format.

Access updated bootstrap Nimbus-7 sea ice concentration data

New Version of the Calibrated Enhanced-Resolution Passive Microwave Daily EASE-Grid 2.0 Brightness Temperature ESDR, Version 2 Dataset Released

Version 2 of the Calibrated Enhanced-Resolution Passive Microwave Daily EASE-Grid 2.0 Brightness Temperature Earth Science Data Record (ESDR) dataset is now available. This new version includes improvements in cross-sensor calibration and quality checking, modern file formats, better quality control, improved projection grids, and local time-of-day processing. It also involves changes in the data stream for the SSM/I, SSMIS, and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) instruments; the addition of Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) data; and changes to the filename structure. Version 2 currently includes data from January 2021 through March 2024.

Access Version 2 ESDR data and more information

New High Mountain Asia 4-km Dynamically Downscaled Meteorological Data Dataset

NASA's NSIDC DAAC released the High Mountain Asia 4-km Dynamically Downscaled Meteorological Data, 2000-2015, Version 1 dataset. This dataset contains simulated meteorological data for the Indus Basin from 2000 through 2015 at three horizontal resolutions (36 km, 12 km, and 4 km) and nine pressure levels spanning 1000 hPa to 200 hPa. The data were generated by using the Advanced Research Weather Research & Forecasting model to dynamically downscale Climate Forecast System Reanalysis data into three nested domains with increasing horizontal resolution.

Access the new High Mountain Asia dataset

New SnowEx23 Mar23 Dataset

The SnowEx23 Mar23 Community Intensive Observation Period (IOP) Snow Depth Measurements, Version 1 dataset is now available. The dataset contains snow depth measurements from five study sites in Alaska collected during the March 2023 IOP as part of the NASA SnowEx 2023 field campaign. The dataset's temporal range spans from March 7, 2023, to March 16, 2023.

Access new SnowEx23 Mar23 data

New SnowEx23 Mar22 Dataset

The SnowEx23 Mar22 IOP Snow Depth Measurements, Version 1 dataset is now available. This dataset contains snow depth measurements from two regions of Alaska collected during the March 2022 IOP as part of the NASA SnowEx 2023 field campaign. The dataset's temporal range spans from March 8, 2022, to March 23, 2022.

Access SnowEx23 Mar22 data

New SnowEx20 Grand Mesa IOP Datasets Released

The SnowEx20 Grand Mesa IOP Lidar and GPR-Derived Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) and Snow Density, Version 1 and SnowEx20 Grand Mesa IOP QSI Lidar Snow Depth Data, Version 1 datasets have been released. These datasets contain rasterized snow depth maps derived from lidar point cloud data collected from Grand Mesa, Colorado, during the SnowEx20 campaign. They also include the lidar point cloud data used for these derivations. The temporal range spans from February 1, 2020, to February 2, 2020.

Access SnowEx20 Grand Mesa IOP datasets

New SnowEx20 Time Series Snow Pit Measurements Datasets

Version 2 of the SnowEx20 Time Series Snow Pit Measurements has been released. The dataset is a time-series of snow pit measurements obtained during the 2020 campaign at locations throughout California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, and Utah. Version 2 updates include SWE algorithm correction, updated snow pit coordinates, and correction of transcription errors. The temporal range spans October 24, 2019, to May 20, 2020. Version 1 of this dataset was retired on July 11, 2024.

Access SnowEx20 time series snow pit measurements datasets and more information

Oak Ridge National Laboratory DAAC (ORNL DAAC)

Carbon Monitoring System Terrestrial Lidar Scans of Mangrove Forests, Everglades National Park, Dataset Now Available

NASA's ORNL DAAC released the Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Terrestrial Lidar Scans of Mangrove Forests, Everglades National Park, Florida, USA, 2022-2023, dataset. The dataset contains point clouds of 3D mangrove forest structure and volume collected from 10 sites in Everglades National Park. Data were collected during NASA's CMS Blueflux campaigns in March 2022, October 2022, and March 2023. Products were acquired using a RIEGL VZ-400i terrestrial laser scanner, a non-destructive and quantitative method for in-situ 3D forest structure measuring and monitoring. Data are provided in LAS (*.las) format.

Access CMS Everglades mangrove data and more information

CMS Global Mangrove Canopy Height Maps Derived from TanDEM-X, 2015 Dataset Released

The Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Global Mangrove Canopy Height Maps Derived from TanDEM-X, 2015 dataset is now available. The dataset characterizes canopy heights of mangrove-forested wetlands globally for 2015 at 12-meter resolution. Estimates of maximum canopy height (height of the tallest tree) were derived from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) TanDEM-X data that produced global digital surface models. Also provided are lidar estimates of canopy height based on the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) instrument, which were used for training and validation of the TanDEM-X estimates of forest height.

These spatially explicit maps of mangrove canopy height can be used to assess local-scale geophysical and environmental conditions that may regulate forest structure and carbon cycle dynamics. The maps revealed a wide range of canopy heights, including maximum values (>60 m) that surpass maximum heights of other forest types. Maps are provided in cloud optimized GeoTIFF format, and mangrove heights for individual GEDI tiles are compiled in- comma separated values (CSV) files.

Access CMS mangrove canopy height maps and more information

New Boreal Arctic Wetland Methane Emissions Dataset Available

NASA's ORNL DAAC released the Boreal Arctic Wetland Methane Emissions, 2002-2021 dataset, which provides an upscaled estimate of Boreal-Arctic wetland methane (CH₄) emissions at a weekly time scale from 2002 to 2021 at 0.5 by 0.5-degree spatial resolution. Ground-truth data on wetland CH₄ emissions from eddy covariance towers (139 site years) and chambers (168 site years) were used to train and validate a causality-guided machine learning model. The trained model was then used to estimate CH₄ emissions at grid cells that have wetlands and are located above 44 degrees north latitude. The data are provided in netCDF format.

Access Boreal Arctic Wetland Methane Emissions data and more information

Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC)

CYGNSS Calibrated Raw IF, Microplastic Concentration, Soil Moisture, Surface Flux, and Watermask Datasets Released

NASA's PO.DAAC released a suite of data products from the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) science team. This release includes the Level 1 calibrated Raw Intermediate Frequency (IF) Version 1.0 dataset, the Level 2 surface heat flux Version 3.2 dataset, the Level 3 ocean microplastic concentration Version 3.2 dataset, the Level 3 soil moisture Version 3.2 dataset, and the monthly watermask Version 3.1 dataset from the University of California Berkeley. The datasets are provided in netCDF4 format and have a temporal range of August 1, 2018, to the present with an approximate 6-day latency.

More information about the new CYGNSS datasets

SWOT Pixel Cloud (PIXC) Area Aggregation and Phase Unwrapping Error Fix Tutorials Now Available

NASA's PO.DAAC released two new tutorials designed to help users access, download, and analyze Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) data on their local machines. The SWOT PIXC Dataset Area Aggregation on a Local Machine Tutorial shows how to aggregate pixel cloud (PIXC) data to estimate water body areas. Users will learn how to aggregate water area over water features, scaling by the water fraction on land/water edges; access cloud-based SWOT PIXC data products by downloading the data to a local machine; and visualize accessed data, isolate a single water feature (e.g., a lake), and use RiverObs tools to aggregate water area.

The SWOT PIXC Dataset Phase Unwrapping on a Local Machine tutorial shows users how to manually fix a phase unwrapping error in PIXC data. Users will learn how to identify phase unwrapping errors, correct a phase unwrapping error by adding multiples of 2pi to the phase, access cloud-based SWOT PIXC data products by downloading the data to a local machine, and visualize accessed data.

PO.DAAC Releases Hydrocron SWOT Timeseries API

Hydrocron is an application programming interface (API) that repackages SWOT hydrology datasets into formats that make time-series analysis easier.

SWOT data are archived as individually timestamped shapefiles, which would otherwise require users to perform potentially thousands of file IO operations per river feature to view the data as a timeseries. Hydrocron makes this possible with a single API call.

More information about Hydrocron

Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)

Global Urban Polygons and Points Dataset (GUPPD), Version 1 (1975 – 2030)

NASA's SEDAC released the Global Urban Polygons and Points Dataset (GUPPD), Version 1 dataset, which is a global dataset of 123,034 urban settlements with place names and population for the years 1975 to 2030 in five-year increments. The dataset builds on and expands the European Commission, Joint Research Centre's (JRC) 2015 Global Human Settlement (GHS) Urban Centre Database (UCDB). The JRC Settlement Model (GHS-SMOD) dataset includes a hierarchy of urban settlements from urban center (level 30), to dense urban cluster (level 23), to semi-dense urban cluster (level 22).

Access the GUPPD dataset and more information