ERS-2 Gridded Sigma-0 Radar Backscatter Data at 8.9 km Resolution

Enhanced resolution C-band scatterometer data processed using a Scatterometer Image Reconstruction (SIR) technique developed by Dr. David Long at Brigham Young University. This dataset provides gridded Sigma-0 measurements and statistical parameters like standard deviation and average incidence angle, originally distributed on tape and now available via FTP. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the listed organization for this record.

Use Cases

• Analyzing surface backscatter properties for land and ocean studies based on Sigma-0 measurements.
• Monitoring sea ice extent and cryosphere changes based on polar-stereographic gridded data.
• Comparing enhanced (8.9 km) and standard (44.5 km) resolution radar imagery for validation studies.
• Investigating regional climate patterns over specific areas like China and Japan, which are combined into a single region.

Strengths

• Provides data at two distinct spatial resolutions: an enhanced 8.9 km pixel resolution and a standard 44.5 km resolution.
• Includes various statistical parameters for guidance, such as standard deviation, measurement counts, pixel time, Sigma-0 error, and average incidence angle.
• Data is organized by region, parameter, and sampling technique (SIR vs. GRD), facilitating targeted access.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and total dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data files are in IEEE formatted binary, which may require specialized tools or libraries for processing.

Provenance

Source

Scatterometer Climate Record Pathfinder (SCP) project at Brigham Young University (BYU).

Collection Method

Generated using a Scatterometer Image Reconstruction (SIR) technique from ERS-2 C-band scatterometer (Active Microwave Instrument) data.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:44:08.384858; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage with non-polar regions on an equal-area grid and polar regions on a polar-stereographic grid. China and Japan are combined into a single region.