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Description

The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) mission measures the temperature of plants to better understand how much water plants need and how they respond to stress. ECOSTRESS is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and collects data globally between 52° N and 52° S latitudes.

The ECOSTRESS Tiled Top of Atmosphere Calibrated Radiance Instantaneous Level 1C Global 70 m (ECO_L1CT_RAD) Version 3 data product provides at-sensor calibrated radiance values retrieved for five thermal infrared (TIR) bands operating between 8 and 12.5 µm. This tiled data product is generated from the ECO_L1CG_RAD Version 3 data product using a modified version of the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS), which divides Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zones into square tiles that are 109.8 km by 109.8 km with a 70 meter (m) spatial resolution.

The ECO_L1CT_RAD Version 3 data product contains 12 layers including radiance values for the five TIR bands, associated data quality indicators, a preliminary cloud mask, and a water body mask. Each variable is distributed as a separate Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) file.

Known Issues

  • Solar Array Obstruction: Some ECOSTRESS scenes may be affected by solar array obstructions from the ISS, potentially impacting data quality in obstructed pixels. The 'FieldOfViewObstruction' metadata field is reliably populated and accurate for all products generated on or after October 2024, following fixes to the PGE docker configuration and updates to the L1A_RAW_PIX software. Prior to October 2024, the field was not reliably populated; a list of confirmed affected scenes was maintained and is recommended for verifying historical data.
  • Historical acquisition gaps and anomalies (2018–2023): Irrecoverable data loss occurred due to Mass Storage Unit (MSU) failures, resulting in permanent gaps in the observational record where no ECOSTRESS data was acquired. Other early issues, including band 4 striping (Feb 2020), 3-band TES mode limitations (May 2019–April 2023), and noisy data periods (e.g., May–July 2025), have been mitigated through reprocessing, firmware updates, and instrument recovery. Version 3 products incorporate these improvements where data exists and are unaffected by ongoing issues, but the permanent historical gaps remain, and caution is advised for time-series analyses spanning affected periods.

Version Description

The following major changes and improvements were implemented for the ECOSTRESS Version 3 ECO_L1CT_RAD product: (1) The band-specific radiometric calibration gain coefficients were updated to 0.9433, 0.9532, 0.9021, 0.9597, and 0.9516 for bands 1–5 respectively, revising the values applied in Version 2 (0.8757, 0.9429, 0.9148, 0.9507, 0.9448) to further reduce residual radiance bias, and (2) The prelim_cloud_mask and water variables no longer carry a documented fill value in Version 3, whereas Version 2's cloud and water variables used a fill value of 255.

Product Summary

Platforms
ISS
Instruments
ECOSTRESS
Projects
ECOSTRESS
Spatial Extent

N: 54 S: -54 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
70 Meters x 70 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
UTM
Location
GLOBAL LAND
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2018-07-09 to Present
Temporal Resolution
Varies
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) ,
ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/ECOSTRESS)
Concept ID
C4142244484-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
2015649
Processing Level
1C
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Land Surface Temperature

Citation

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.

Copy Citation

Hook, S., Smyth, M., & Jovanovic, V. (2026). ECOSTRESS Tiled Top of Atmosphere Calibrated Radiance Instantaneous L1C Global 70 m v003 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ECOSTRESS/ECO_L1CT_RAD.003 Date Accessed: 2026-08-09

File Naming Convention

ECOv003_L1CT_RAD_40701_007_17FQA_20250909T164037_0713_01_cloud.tif

The file name begins with the Sensor (ECO) followed by the Product Version (v003), Processing Level and Type (L1CT), Geophysical Parameter (RAD), Orbit Number (40701), Scene Identifier (007), 5-character MGRS Tile Identifier (17FQA), Date and Time of Acquisition designated as YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS (20250909T164037), Build Identifier of product generation software (0713), Product Iteration Number (01), Layer/band Name (cloud), and the Data Format (tif).

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

ALGORITHM DOCUMENTATION

DATA PRODUCT SPECIFICATION

DATA QUALITY

ANOMALIES

Variables

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.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor Offset
data_quality_1 Data quality indicator for radiance_1. N/A uint16 N/A 0 to 4 N/A N/A
data_quality_2 Data quality indicator for radiance_2. N/A uint16 N/A 0 to 4 N/A N/A
data_quality_3 Data quality indicator for radiance_3. N/A uint16 N/A 0 to 4 N/A N/A
data_quality_4 Data quality indicator for radiance_4. N/A uint16 N/A 0 to 4 N/A N/A
data_quality_5 Data quality indicator for radiance_5. N/A uint16 N/A 0 to 4 N/A N/A
prelim_cloud_mask Preliminary Cloud Mask N/A uint8 N/A 0 to 1 N/A N/A
radiance_1 TIR tiled radiance at 8.285 µm. Fill (NaN) for 3-band acquisitions (May 15, 2019 – April 28, 2023). W m-2 sr-1 µm-1 float32 N/A N/A N/A N/A
radiance_2 TIR tiled radiance at 8.785 µm. Fill Value: NaN W m-2 sr-1 µm-1 float32 N/A N/A N/A N/A
radiance_3 TIR tiled radiance at 9.060 µm. Fill (NaN) for 3-band acquisitions (May 15, 2019 – April 28, 2023). W m-2 sr-1 µm-1 float32 N/A N/A N/A N/A
radiance_4 TIR tiled radiance at 10.522 µm. Fill Value: NaN W m-2 sr-1 µm-1 float32 N/A N/A N/A N/A
radiance_5 TIR tiled radiance at 12.001 µm. Fill Value: NaN W m-2 sr-1 µm-1 float32 N/A N/A N/A N/A
water Water Mask N/A uint8 N/A 0 to 1 N/A N/A
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