COWVR-TEMPEST/STP-H8: Satellite Microwave Radiometer Data from the ISS

NASA COWVR-TEMPEST/STP-H8 Project data includes satellite-based observations of calibrated antenna temperature and brightness temperatures from the COWVR sensor aboard the International Space Station. The dataset contains Level 1c temperature sensor data and Level 2 environmental data records, including ocean surface wind vectors, starting in January 2022 and forward-streaming through the planned mission end in December 2024. Data files in HDF5 format are available at roughly hourly frequency, with a swath width of 1012 km and spatial resolution under 35 km.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and validating satellite-derived ocean surface wind vector models based on microwave brightness temperatures.
• Analyzing global patterns of precipitable water vapor and integrated cloud liquid water based on the environmental data record.
• Studying non-sun-synchronous Earth observation data from the International Space Station orbit.
• Developing lower-cost sensor architectures for passive microwave imaging, as demonstrated by the STP-H8 mission.

Strengths

• Data covers a planned multi-year time range from January 2022 to December 2024.
• Spatial resolution is under 35 km with a swath width of 1012 km, providing broad coverage.
• Files include calibration and flag data in addition to the primary brightness temperature and wind vector measurements.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML projects.
• The file metadata formats may be different than what an average user is familiar with, requiring consultation of the User Guide.

Provenance

Source

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, United States Space Force, Space Systems Command, Development Corps for Innovation and Prototyping.

Collection Method

Observations from the COWVR (Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer) sensor aboard the International Space Station.

Time Range

January 2022 to December 2024 (planned).

Freshness

Data is forward-streaming; last update date is unknown.

Geography

Global coverage from the ISS orbit.