• New versions of SMAP Level-1, Level-2, and Level-3 data sets are now available from 2015 to the present. This version will be retired on 16 December 2024. After that date, data access will only be available for the newest version.

SMAP L3 Radiometer Global and Northern Hemisphere Daily 36 km EASE-Grid Freeze/Thaw State, Version 3
Data set id:
SPL3FTP
DOI: 10.5067/ZJOKL452HRLD
There is a more recent version of these data.
Version Summary
Changes to this version include:
- Adjusted the freeze/thaw reference states for the normalized polarization ratio (NPR) algorithm per the improved Level-1 brightness temperature recalibration. The freezing reference averages from 2016-2020 and the thaw reference averages from 2015-2019.
- Adjusted the reference states for the Single-Channel V (SCV) algorithm per the update of the GEOS-FP surface and soil temperature profiles.
- Improved the never frozen/never thawed masks for false-flag mitigation by:
* extending the temporal extent of the AMSR-E source data to include data through 2019
* blending in a GEOS-FP temperature climatology for 2015-2020 using a loose ±10 ºC criterion for fully-frozen or fully-thawed conditions.
- The product data structure, content, and processor code are otherwise unchanged from the previous version.

For the full major and minor version history, go to https://nsidc.org/data/smap/version-history

Overview

This Level-3 (L3) product provides a daily composite of landscape freeze/thaw conditions retrieved by the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) radiometer from 6:00 a.m. descending and 6:00 p.m. ascending half-orbit passes. SMAP L-band brightness temperatures are used to derive freeze/thaw state and transition data, which are then resampled to both an Earth-fixed, Northern Hemisphere azimuthal 36 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid (EASE-Grid 2.0), and to an Earth-fixed global 36 km EASE-Grid 2.0.
Parameter(s):
BRIGHTNESS TEMPERATUREFREEZE/THAWTRANSITION DIRECTION
Platform(s):
SMAP
Sensor(s):
SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER
Data Format(s):
HDF5
Temporal Coverage:
31 March 2015 to present
Temporal Resolution:
  • 1 day
Spatial Resolution:
  • 36 km
  • 36 km
Spatial Reference System(s):
WGS 84 / NSIDC EASE-Grid 2.0 North
EPSG:6931

WGS 84 / NSIDC EASE-Grid 2.0 Global
EPSG:6933
Spatial Coverage:
N:
85.044
S:
45
E:
180
W:
-180
N:
85.044
S:
-85.044
E:
180
W:
-180
Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.

Data Access & Tools

A free NASA Earthdata Login account is required to access these data. Learn More

Help Articles

General Questions & FAQs

OPeNDAP, the Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol, is a NASA community standard DAP that provides a simple way for researchers to access and work with data over the internet.
SMAP Ancillary data sets are used to produce SMAP Level-1, -2, -3, and -4 standard data products.
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.
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
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This step-by-step tutorial demonstrates how to access MODIS and SMAP data using the Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS). AppEEARS allows users to access, explore, and download point and area data with spatial, temporal, and parameter subsets.
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.
All data from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) is directly accessible through our HTTPS file system using Wget or curl. This article provides basic command line instructions for accessing data using this method.
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.