Daily Global Water Cloud Optical Thickness from GCOM-C Satellite

Daily 1/12-degree resolution binned statistics of water cloud optical thickness, a dimensionless physical quantity, derived from the SGLI sensor onboard the JAXA GCOM-C satellite launched in December 2017. The dataset provides statistical aggregates including average, root-mean-square, maximum, minimum, and data counts for each spatial bin. It is produced by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to support higher accuracy in global warming prediction.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial patterns of cloud optical thickness using the average (AVE) and root-mean-square (RMS) statistics across global 1/12-degree bins.
• Studying daily extremes in cloud properties by examining the maximum (MAX) and minimum (MIN) values for each geospatial bin.
• Assessing data reliability for each observation period by checking the number of input data (Ninput) and number of used data (Nused) columns.
• Filtering for high-quality observations in time-series analysis using the quality flag (QA_flag) column.
• Tracking temporal changes in cloud properties by joining records using the date of observation (Date) field.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage with a consistent 1/12-degree resolution grid.
• Provides multiple statistical measures per bin: AVE, RMS, MAX, MIN, Ninput, Nused.
• Data is available at daily, 8-day, and monthly temporal aggregation levels.
• Product is maintained with a current Version 3 and legacy Version 2 available.

Limitations

• Specific row count, file size, and total temporal coverage are not provided.
• The dataset focuses solely on water cloud optical thickness, excluding other cloud types or atmospheric variables.
• Relies on the specific sensor characteristics of SGLI, which may introduce instrument-specific biases.

Provenance

Source

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Collection Method

Derived from Level 1B and Level 2 products from the SGLI sensor on the GCOM-C satellite, statistically processed in time and space domains.

Time Range

Post-launch coverage from December 2017 onward; exact start and end dates are not specified.

Freshness

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Geography

Global coverage with EQA (Equatorial) projection.