GCOM-C Satellite Top-of-Atmosphere Radiance Data at 250m Resolution

Global satellite observations from the SGLI sensor onboard Japan's GCOM-C satellite, launched in December 2017. The dataset provides Level 1B top-of-atmosphere radiance data across visible and infrared bands for 28 geophysical variables related to atmosphere, land, ocean, and cryosphere. It is produced by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to improve global warming prediction accuracy.

Use Cases

• Calculate aerosol optical thickness by analyzing spectral radiance in the shortwave infrared bands.
• Monitor vegetation indices by processing top-of-atmosphere radiance from visible and near-infrared bands.
• Perform geometric correction and data fusion using stored latitude, longitude, solar azimuth, and solar zenith angles at 10-pixel intervals.
• Assess data quality for specific pixels using the appended QA flag corresponding to the observation image.
• Model surface reflectance by applying radiometric correction stored within the HDF5 product.

Strengths

• Spatial resolution of 250 meters, with 1 km data also available.
• Swath width of 1150 km in visible bands and 1400 km in infrared bands for broad coverage.
• Includes geometric information (latitude, longitude, angles) stored at 10-pixel intervals for alignment.
• Covers 28 observation items across four key areas: atmosphere, land, ocean, and cryosphere.

Limitations

• Specific row count, file size, and temporal coverage range are not provided.
• Data is provided in Scaled Integer (SI) format, requiring conversion to physical units for analysis.
• Precise satellite position (azimuth and zenith angles) varies by band and is stored separately, complicating multi-band pixel alignment.

Provenance

Source

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Collection Method

Data acquired from the SGLI sensor onboard the GCOM-C satellite in a Sun-synchronous sub-recurrent orbit, processed from Level 1A to Level 1B products.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Global