LPRM_WINDSAT_NT_SOILM3: Nighttime Land Surface Parameters from WindSat

From February 2003 to July 2012, this Level 3 gridded dataset provides daily nighttime estimates of surface soil moisture, land surface temperature, and vegetation water content. The data are derived from WindSat polarimetric microwave radiometer data on the Coriolis satellite using the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM). It offers a global, 25 km resolution record suitable for analyzing land surface processes and validating climate models.

Use Cases

• Monitoring drought conditions and soil moisture trends based on daily surface soil moisture retrievals.
• Validating land surface models and reanalysis products using independent satellite-derived skin temperature and vegetation water content.
• Studying the diurnal cycle of land surface parameters by comparing this nighttime product with its daytime counterpart.
• Assessing vegetation health and water stress through the vegetation optical depth proxy provided by the LPRM.

Strengths

• Covers a significant, continuous 9.5-year period from February 2003 to July 2012.
• Provides three key, physically-based land parameters (soil moisture, temperature, vegetation water content) derived from a consistent algorithm (LPRM).
• Has a cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov, indicating recognized importance and curation.

Limitations

• Metadata conflicts exist: the 'last updated' date is reported as both 2012-08-01 and 2026-04-09, creating uncertainty about maintenance.
• Specific column names, file sizes, and row counts are not provided in any source, limiting detailed technical assessment.
• The dataset is historical and not updated beyond July 2012, limiting its use for near-real-time applications.

Provenance

Source

GES_DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center)

Collection Method

Derived from WindSat brightness temperature (sdrLowRes) nighttime passes using the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM).

Time Range

February 2003 to July 2012

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:40:55.956919

Geography

Global, gridded at 25 km x 25 km resolution