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Description
AMSR2/GCOM-W1 surface soil moisture (LPRM) L3 1 day 25 km x 25 km descending V001 is a Level 3 (gridded) data set. Its land surface parameters, surface soil moisture, land surface (skin) temperature, and vegetation water content, are derived from passive microwave remote sensing data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2), using the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM). There are two files per day, one ascending (daytime) and one descending (nighttime), archived as two different products. This document is for the nighttime product. The data set covers the period from May 2012, when the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Global Change Observation Mission-1st Water GCOM-W1 satellite was launched, to the present.
The LPRM is based on a forward radiative transfer model to retrieve surface soil moisture and vegetation optical depth. The land surface temperature is derived separately from the AMSR2's Ka-band (36.5 GHz). A unique feature of this method is that it can be applied at any microwave frequency, making it very suitable to exploit all the available passive microwave data from various satellites.
Input data are from the AMSR2 spatial-resolution-matched brightness temperatures (L1SGRTBR) product, nighttime passes, as processed using LPRM (i.e., LPRM/AMSR2/GCOM-W1 Level 2 product, LPRM_AMSR2_SOILM2_V001).
Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (formerly Goddard DAAC), Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/GESDI
Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.
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de Jeu, R. (2013). AMSR2/GCOM-W1 surface soil moisture (LPRM) L3 1 day 25 km x 25 km descending V001 [Data set]. NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/CGDEOBASZ178 Date Accessed: 2026-05-02
de Jeu, Richard. “AMSR2/GCOM-W1 Surface Soil Moisture (LPRM) L3 1 Day 25 Km x 25 Km Descending V001.” NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center, 2013. doi:10.5067/CGDEOBASZ178. Date Accessed: 2026-05-02
de Jeu, Richard. AMSR2/GCOM-W1 Surface Soil Moisture (LPRM) L3 1 Day 25 Km x 25 Km Descending V001. NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center, 2013, doi:10.5067/CGDEOBASZ178. Date Accessed: 2026-05-02
The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this
dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements
collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on
satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and
model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band
have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the
designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR).
Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill
Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze
the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables.
Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data,
user guide, and/or other product documentation.
For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.