How To
Programmatic access to data with services such as subsetting, reformatting, and reprojection
This article provides a step-by-step getting started guide to utilizing an Application Programming Interface, or API, for programmatic access to data from the NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) based on spatial and temporal filters, as well as subsetting, reformatting, and...
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How to import and geolocate SMAP Level-3 and Level-4 data in ENVI
How do I visualize SMAP data in Worldview?
How do I search, order, and customize SMAP data using Earthdata Search?
In this step-by-step tutorial, we will demonstrate how to search, order, and customize NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP data using the NASA Earthdata Search application. NASA Earthdata search provides an interactive map-based search environment where you can filter your results based on...
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How to Import SMAP HDF Data Into ArcGIS
Selected SMAP L4, Version 4 HDF data (SPL4SMAU, SPL4SMGP, & SPL4SMLM) can be added to ArcGIS with a simple drag/drop or using the 'Add Data' function. These data can be imported and visualized but not geolocated. In order to import, project, and scale these data and other SMAP L3 and L4 HDF...
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How do I access data using OPeNDAP?
Data can be programmatically accessed using NSIDC’s OPeNDAP Hyrax server, allowing you to reformat and subset data based on parameter and array index. For more information on OPeNDAP, including supported data sets and known issues, please see our OPeNDAP documentation: ...
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How to extract point and area samples of SMAP data using AppEEARS
This step-by-step tutorial demonstrates how to access NASA SMAP data using the Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS). AppEEARS allows users to obtain and display point and area data using spatial, temporal, and layer subsets. SMAP data from NSIDC that are...
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How to learn more about SMAP ancillary data
SMAP Ancillary data sets are used to produce SMAP Level-1, -2, -3, and -4 standard data products. Several of these ancillary data sets are produced by external organizations, such as NOAA, the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation...
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How to visualize SMAP WMS layers with ArcGIS and Google Earth
NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) provides up to date, full resolution imagery for selected SMAP data sets. Adding GIBS layers via OGC methods, such as Web Map Service (WMS), Web Map Tile Service (WMTS) and Tiled Web Map Service (TWMS) provides an easy way to visualize the entire time...
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FAQ
Why does the root zone soil moisture in the SMAP Level-4 soil moisture products vary in such close unison with the surface soil moisture?
The surface and root zone soil moisture estimates in the SMAP Level-4 soil moisture products are the outputs of a land surface model into which SMAP observations of brightness temperature have been assimilated. The coupling between the surface layer and the root zone layer is known to be very...
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What are the latencies for SMAP radiometer data sets?
The following table describes both the required and actual latencies for the different SMAP radiometer data sets. Latency is defined as the time (# days, hh:mm:ss) from data acquisition to product generation.
Short name
Title
Latency
Required
Actual (mean1)
SPL1AP
SMAP L1A...
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Why do the soil moisture values in the SMAP Level-4 data vary from what I expect in a particular region?
There are a few reasons that the soil moisture data values in SMAP Level-4 data products may vary from what you expect in a particular region. The first step a data user should take in investigating apparently anomalous values is to look at the rich quality information and other data flags...
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What data subsetting, reformatting, and reprojection services are available for SMAP data?