ECOSTRESS L1B: Spacecraft Attitude and Ephemeris Data from the ISS

ECOSTRESS Swath Attitude and Ephemeris Instantaneous L1B Global V002 provides corrected and uncorrected attitude quaternions and spacecraft ephemeris data from the International Space Station. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration product contains Earth-centered inertial position and velocity vectors at 1-second intervals for orbits between 52° N and 52° S latitudes. Data acquisition began in 2018, with the dataset last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Precise geolocation of ECOSTRESS thermal imagery based on spacecraft attitude and ephemeris data.
• Analyzing orbital dynamics and ISS positioning for Earth observation based on Earth-centered inertial (ECI) position and velocity vectors.
• Correcting for solar array obstructions in thermal data using the populated 'FieldOfViewObstruction' metadata field for orbits after October 24, 2024.
• Studying data acquisition gaps and instrument anomalies described in the known issues for temporal data quality assessment.

Strengths

• Data is provided at a high temporal resolution of 1-second intervals.
• Includes both corrected and uncorrected attitude quaternions for validation and processing flexibility.
• Metadata field 'FieldOfViewObstruction' is populated and generally accurate for identifying solar array obstructions from orbits starting 35724 (October 24, 2024).

Limitations

• Cannot perform spatial queries in NASA Earthdata Search as the product lacks spatial attributes; search must be by orbit number.
• Data acquisition experienced gaps due to anomalies with primary and secondary mass storage units in 2018 and 2019.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment (ECOSTRESS) instrument attached to the International Space Station.

Time Range

Data acquisition launched June 29, 2018, with operations ongoing.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:02:03.423972; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage between 52° North and 52° South latitudes.