Spire's constellation of 100 satellites collects GNSS signal data for atmospheric and Earth surface analysis. Products include Polarimetric Radio Occultation (PRO) measurements from May to November 2023 and GNSS Reflectometry (GNSS-R) data from May 2019 and December 2020 onward. The data is hosted by NASA Earthdata and originates from the European Space Agency (ESA).
Use Cases
- Analyze global trade patterns and commodity flows based on derived ocean wind and wave conditions.
- Improve aircraft routing and weather forecasting based on atmospheric temperature, humidity, and pressure profiles.
- Study ocean currents and planetary boundary layer height using GNSS signal bending and reflection data.
- Monitor soil moisture over land and characterize smooth surfaces like ice using Near-Nadir and Grazing-Angle GNSS-R measurements.
- Investigate precipitation and ice content using Polarimetric Radio Occultation's differential phase shift between H and V polarizations.
Strengths
- Data sourced from a constellation of 100 satellites in Low Earth Orbit.
- Polarimetric Radio Occultation (PRO) data provides unique sensitivity to hydrometeors like ice and rain.
- GNSS Reflectometry data includes both Near-Nadir and Grazing-Angle types for different surface applications.
- Historical GNSS-R data coverage spans from May 2019 and December 2020 to the present.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- The PRO product's temporal coverage is limited to a specific period from May to November 2023.
Provenance
- Source
- ESA
- Collection Method
- Data collected by Spire satellites via GNSS Radio Occultation and Reflectometry techniques.
- Time Range
- PRO: 15-May-2023 to 30-November-2023. GNSS-R: Grazing-Angle from May 2019, Near-Nadir from December 2020.
- Geography
- Global