GRRATS: Pre-SWOT Satellite River Height Time Series

GRRATS Version 2 provides simulated river gauge data derived from five satellite altimeter missions, including ERS-1, ERS-2, TOPEX/Poseidon, OSTM/Jason-2, Jason-3, and Envisat. Its primary purpose is to deliver satellite-derived river heights in a format familiar to hydrologists, serving as a training dataset ahead of the SWOT mission. The dataset includes quality flagging typical of satellite data and is intended to help users adapt to satellite data formats for hydrological applications.

Use Cases

• Calibrating hydrological models using long-term satellite-derived river height time series.
• Preparing for SWOT mission data analysis by familiarizing with altimetry data formats and variables.
• Monitoring global river surface height variations from virtual station locations.
• Assessing the performance of different satellite altimeter missions for inland water applications.

Strengths

• Integrates data from five distinct satellite altimeter missions, providing a multi-source record.
• Represents the most recent version (V2) with updated and more accurate algorithms compared to V1.
• Includes typical satellite data quality flagging to assist with data validation.

Limitations

• Critical metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all platforms.
• The dataset is described as 'simulated' river gauge data, indicating it is a derived product, not direct in-situ measurement.
• A conflict exists in the 'last updated' metadata, with dates ranging from 2018 to 2026 across different platform entries.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Derived from radar altimeter measurements from ERS-1, ERS-2, TOPEX/Poseidon, OSTM/Jason-2, Jason-3, and Envisat satellites.

Freshness

The most recent update recorded is 2026-04-09, though a conflicting entry lists 2018-04-20.

Geography

Global