Global Daily Brightness Temperature Grids At 7GHz

Global satellite-derived brightness temperature data at 7GHz, produced daily on a 0.25-degree grid. The dataset is generated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) from the AMSR2 sensor onboard the GCOM-W satellite, launched in May 2012. It provides daily statistical means of horizontally and vertically polarized microwave emissions from the Earth's surface and atmosphere.

Use Cases

• Modeling global soil moisture by analyzing the 7GHz Brightness_Temperature_(H) and Brightness_Temperature_(V) polarization difference.
• Detecting sea ice extent and concentration changes through time-series analysis of the daily Brightness_Temperature grids.
• Assessing data reliability for a region by checking the Average_Number and Total_Number columns per grid cell.
• Filtering for valid observations by identifying missing values (65535) and error values (65531 to 65534) in the brightness temperature fields.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage with a consistent 0.25-degree sampling resolution.
• Includes separate data products for satellite ascending and descending tracks.
• Provides derived statistics like Standard_Deviation for monthly products.

Limitations

• Specific row count, temporal range, and update recency are not provided.
• The 0.25-degree resolution may be too coarse for fine-scale local analysis.
• Data gaps are indicated by missing value codes (65535) which require handling.

Provenance

Source

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Collection Method

Calculated from Level 1B and Level 2 data from the AMSR2 sensor on the GCOM-W satellite, using a simple arithmetic mean for daily and monthly averages.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Daily statistical period, but last update date is unknown.

Geography

Global