Global Daily Brightness Temperature at 10GHz from AMSR2 Satellite

GCOM-W/AMSR2 L3 Brightness Temperature data provides daily averaged microwave brightness temperature at 10GHz on a 0.25-degree global grid. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) produces this dataset from the AMSR2 sensor onboard the GCOM-W satellite, launched in May 2012. It includes separate averages for ascending and descending satellite tracks, along with statistical metrics like standard deviation and data counts.

Use Cases

• Modeling soil moisture by analyzing the Brightness_Temperature_(H) and Brightness_Temperature_(V) values over land surfaces.
• Monitoring polar sea ice extent and concentration using the 10GHz brightness temperature data in polar stereographic (PS) projection.
• Assessing data quality and uncertainty for climate records by examining the Standard_Deviation and Average_Number fields in the monthly product.
• Detecting changes in surface emissivity by comparing time-series of daily Brightness_Temperature_(H) values across the 0.25-degree global grid.
• Filtering invalid observations in analysis workflows by identifying error values (65531-65534) and missing data flags (65535).

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage with a 0.25-degree sampling resolution.
• Separate statistical means provided for ascending and descending satellite tracks.
• Includes ancillary data fields like Standard_Deviation, Average_Number, and Total_Number for quality assessment.
• Long-term data record enabled by the AMSR2 sensor launched in 2012.

Limitations

• Specific row count and total file size are not provided in the description.
• Monthly standard deviation (Standard_Deviation) is only available in the monthly product, not the daily.
• Data uses specific missing (65535) and error (65531-65534) values that require handling.

Provenance

Source

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Collection Method

Satellite observations from the AMSR2 sensor onboard the GCOM-W spacecraft, processed to Level 3 by calculating daily arithmetic means for each grid point.

Time Range

Data collection began after the satellite launch on May 18, 2012; specific end date is not provided.

Freshness

Daily statistical period; update frequency is not specified.

Geography

Global coverage.