ECOSTRESS: Global 70-Meter Evaporative Stress Index from Space Station

ECOSTRESS Gridded Evaporative Stress Index PT-JPL Instantaneous L4 Global 70 m V002 data uses the PT-JPL-SM model to estimate actual and potential evapotranspiration. The product is projected to a globally snapped 0.0006° grid with a 70-meter spatial resolution and is distributed in HDF5 format. It is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated on March 13, 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling agricultural drought and irrigation needs based on the Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) layer.
• Analyzing global plant water stress patterns based on the ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration.
• Studying land surface thermal properties and hydrology using the cloud and water mask layers.
• Monitoring ecosystem health and response to climate variability based on instantaneous evapotranspiration estimates.

Strengths

• Provides a high spatial resolution of 70 meters on a global 0.0006° grid.
• Includes multiple data layers such as ESI, PET, cloud mask, and water mask within each granule.
• Data is collected globally between 52° N and 52° S latitudes from the International Space Station.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Data acquisition experienced gaps and anomalies in 2018, 2019, and 2020, with some periods operating in a reduced 3-band mode.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite measurements from the ECOSTRESS instrument on the International Space Station, processed using the Priestley-Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory Soil Moisture (PT-JPL-SM) model.

Time Range

Data acquisition began after the instrument launch on June 29, 2018.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:02:03.423219; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage between 52° N and 52° S latitudes.