ERS-2 GOME SIF: Daily Chlorophyll Fluorescence, 1995-2003

Daily Level 2 Solar-Induced Fluorescence (SIF) estimates from 1995-07-01 to 2003-06-22 provide a direct measure of chlorophyll activity. Data from the ESA's ERS-2 GOME instrument includes raw and bias-adjusted SIF on an orbital basis for land pixels at 40 km x 320 km resolution, along with quality control and ancillary data. The dataset contains both Version 1 and Version 2 files, with Version 2 adding fields like SIF uncertainties and longitude-latitude corners.

Use Cases

• Tracking global vegetation productivity based on daily solar-induced fluorescence measurements.
• Validating or calibrating newer SIF retrieval algorithms using the historical Version 1 and Version 2 data.
• Analyzing long-term trends in photosynthetic activity from 1995 to 2003 using the time-series data.
• Assessing data quality for specific regions using the provided quality control information and ancillary data.

Strengths

• Provides an 8-year time series of daily data from 1995 to 2003, offering a foundational record for early SIF observation.
• Includes two processed versions (V1 and V2) of the data, with V2 adding specific fields like SIF uncertainties and ocean coverage data.
• Contains ancillary and quality control information alongside the core SIF measurements.

Limitations

• The product is described as inherently noisy due to low signal levels and has undergone only a limited amount of validation.
• Metadata for row count, file size, and specific column names is unavailable across all sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2003 vs. 2026) suggest potential metadata freshness issues on some platforms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), derived from the European Space Agency's (ESA) ERS-2 satellite GOME instrument.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) instrument.

Time Range

1995-07-01 to 2003-06-22

Freshness

Last updated dates conflict: one source lists 2003-06-22, while others list 2026-04-10.

Geography

Global land pixels (with ocean coverage data in Version 2), at a nominal resolution of 40 km x 320 km.