MERIS Level-1 Reduced Resolution TOA Radiance from Envisat

Fifteen spectral bands from 390 nm to 1040 nm provide calibrated top-of-atmosphere radiance measurements at a 300-meter resolution. The European Space Agency's MERIS instrument on the Envisat-1 satellite collected this data from March 2002 until contact was lost in April 2012, with products reprocessed in 2020. Each Level-1 product contains 22 files, including radiance and error estimates for each band alongside annotation data.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ocean color and phytoplankton concentrations using radiance measurements across visible wavelengths.
• Studying cloud properties, including microphysics and ceiling height, from spectral radiance in infrared and ultraviolet bands.
• Monitoring land surface changes and landscape ecology with calibrated radiance data from multiple spectral bands.
• Validating atmospheric correction algorithms by comparing top-of-atmosphere radiance with in-situ measurements.
• Investigating spectral reflectance properties of different surface types using the 15 programmable MERIS bands.

Strengths

• Provides data from 15 programmable spectral bands, allowing for tailored analysis across the 390-1040 nm range.
• Offers a 10-year continuous time series from 2002 to 2012, enabling long-term environmental trend analysis.
• Global coverage was achieved every 3 days due to the instrument's 1150 km swath width.
• The 2020 4th reprocessing cycle ensures improved calibration and consistency for the Level-1 products.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates exist between sources (2012-04-08 and 2026-03-12), creating uncertainty about metadata freshness.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided by any source platform.
• Data collection ceased in 2012, limiting analysis to historical periods only.

Provenance

Source

European Space Agency (ESA) via the MERIS instrument on the Envisat-1 satellite.

Collection Method

Collected by a push-broom imaging spectroradiometer on a polar-orbiting satellite, with data processed and distributed by NASA LAADS.

Time Range

2002-03 to 2012-04

Freshness

2026-03 12 22:30:40.069960

Geography

Global