SMAP/Sentinel-1 L2 Radiometer/Radar 30-Second Scene 3 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture, Version 3
Data set id:
SPL2SMAP_S
DOI: 10.5067/ASB0EQO2LYJV
This is the most recent version of these data.
Version Summary
Version Summary
Changes to this version include:
- An improved calibration methodology was applied to the SMAP Level-1B brightness temperatures.
- Revised the coefficients in the land surface temperature computation to be consistent with the SMAP Level-2 soil moisture passive enhanced product. The new coefficients are C=0.246, K=1.007 for AM passes and C=1.0, K=1.007 for PM passes.
- Changed the omega parameter of the tau-omega model for forest landcover classes (1-5) from 0.05 to 0.07.
- Uses a new high-resolution soil database (SoilGrid250m; Hengl et al., 2017).
- Uses bulk density to set the upper limit of the soil moisture retrievals. Previous versions used a fixed value of 0.65 m3/m3.
- Enhanced documentation on Data Flags in the User Guide to help data users to better understand and use the flags.
- Added a bit in the TB Disaggregation QC flag to indicate (1) the use of SMAP AM or PM data; and (2) the time difference (greater or less than 36 hours) between the SMAP and Sentinel observations overlap.
- Fixed the EASE_[row/column]_index_apm_[1km/3km] data fields to make them 0-based.
- Fixed the range beginning and ending time in the file metadata.
- In June 2024, the validated state was retroactively applied to all 3-km data from August 21, 2020 onward.
For the full major and minor version history, go to https://nsidc.org/data/smap/version-history
- An improved calibration methodology was applied to the SMAP Level-1B brightness temperatures.
- Revised the coefficients in the land surface temperature computation to be consistent with the SMAP Level-2 soil moisture passive enhanced product. The new coefficients are C=0.246, K=1.007 for AM passes and C=1.0, K=1.007 for PM passes.
- Changed the omega parameter of the tau-omega model for forest landcover classes (1-5) from 0.05 to 0.07.
- Uses a new high-resolution soil database (SoilGrid250m; Hengl et al., 2017).
- Uses bulk density to set the upper limit of the soil moisture retrievals. Previous versions used a fixed value of 0.65 m3/m3.
- Enhanced documentation on Data Flags in the User Guide to help data users to better understand and use the flags.
- Added a bit in the TB Disaggregation QC flag to indicate (1) the use of SMAP AM or PM data; and (2) the time difference (greater or less than 36 hours) between the SMAP and Sentinel observations overlap.
- Fixed the EASE_[row/column]_index_apm_[1km/3km] data fields to make them 0-based.
- Fixed the range beginning and ending time in the file metadata.
- In June 2024, the validated state was retroactively applied to all 3-km data from August 21, 2020 onward.
For the full major and minor version history, go to https://nsidc.org/data/smap/version-history
Overview
This Level-2 (L2) soil moisture product provides estimates of land surface conditions retrieved by both the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) radiometer during 6:00 a.m. descending and 6:00 p.m. ascending half-orbit passes and the Sentinel-1A and -1B radar. SMAP L-band brightness temperatures and Copernicus Sentinel-1 C-band backscatter coefficients are used to derive soil moisture data, which are then resampled to an Earth-fixed, cylindrical 3 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid, Version 2.0 (EASE-Grid 2.0). While the 3 km data product has undergone validation, the 1 km product has not and should be used with caution.
Parameter(s):
BRIGHTNESS TEMPERATURESIGMA NAUGHTSURFACE SOIL MOISTURE
Platform(s):
SENTINEL-1A, SENTINEL-1B, SMAP
Sensor(s):
C-SAR, SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER
Data Format(s):
HDF5
Temporal Coverage:
31 March 2015 to present
Temporal Resolution:
- 30 second
Spatial Resolution:
- 3 km
- 3 km
Spatial Reference System(s):
WGS 84 / NSIDC EASE-Grid 2.0 Global
EPSG:6933
Spatial Coverage:
N:
60
S:
-60
E:
180
W:
-180
Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.
Data Access & Tools
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Documentation
User Guide
ATBDs
General Resources
Quality Assessment Reports
Product Specification Documents
Help Articles
General Questions & FAQs
This short article describes the customization services available for SMAP data using Earthdata Search.
How to Articles
Many NSIDC DAAC data sets can be accessed using the NSIDC DAAC's Data Access Tool. This tool provides the ability to search and filter data with spatial and temporal constraints using a map-based interface.Users have the option to
Harmony API Quickstart Guide: Customizing NASA NSIDC DAAC data in Earthdata Cloud
To convert HDF5 files into binary format you will need to use the h5dump utility, which is part of the HDF5 distribution available from the HDF Group. How you install HDF5 depends on your operating system.
Data subscriptions are available for select NSIDC DAAC data collections. Once signed up, the subscription service automatically sends you new data as they are delivered from active NASA satellite missions.
This articles provides an example MATLAB snippet to read and plot SMAP/Sentinel-1 L2 Radiometer/Radar 30-Second Scene 3 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture HDF5 soil moisture and brightness temperature data, as well as the related surface and quality flags.
This article highlights the NSIDC DAAC data sets available with customization options and outlines a workflow for searching, ordering, and customizing data in NASA Earthdata Search. This approach is ideal for users who want to download data to their local machine.
NASA Worldview is a map interface that allows users to interactively browse imagery, create visualizations, and download the underlying data.
NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) provides up to date, full resolution imagery for selected NSIDC DAAC data sets.