Skip to main content

Description

The Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) instrument measures surface mineralogy, targeting the Earth’s arid dust source regions. EMIT is installed on the International Space Station (ISS). EMIT uses imaging spectroscopy to take measurements of the sunlit regions of interest between ~52° N latitude and ~52° S latitude. An interactive map showing the locations of regions being investigated, current and forecasted data coverage, and additional data resources can be found on the VSWIR Imaging Spectroscopy Interface for Open Science (VISIONS) EMIT Open Data Portal.

The EMIT Level 2B Fractional Cover and Uncertainty (EMITL2BFRCOV) Version 1 data product provides a series of fractional cover estimates, associated uncertainty metrics, and one quality control (QC) flag mask variable. The fractional cover estimates are derived from the EMIT L2A Estimated Surface Reflectance and Uncertainty and Masks (EMITL2ARFL) data product, while the QC flag mask variable is derived from EMITL2ARFL, EMIT L2A Mask (EMITL2AMASK), and non-EMIT landcover and water body inputs. Scenes/granules where cloud cover is greater than 80 percent have been excluded from this collection. For more details about inputs used for this data product, see Sections 4.3 and 4.5 of the Algorithm Technical Basis Document (ATBD).

Each EMITL2BFRCOV granule consists of seven Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) files at 60 meter (m) spatial resolution: Photosynthetic Vegetation Fractional Cover (EMIT_L2B_FRCOVPV) and Uncertainty (EMIT_L2B_FRCOVPVUNC), Non-photosynthetic Vegetation Fractional Cover (EMIT_L2B_FRCOVNPV) and Uncertainty (EMIT_L2B_FRCOVNPVUNC), Bare Soil Fractional Cover (EMIT_L2B_FRCOVBARE) and Uncertainty (EMIT_L2B_FRCOVBAREUNC), and QC Flags (EMIT_L2B_FRCOVQC). A browse image is also available.

Each granule is approximately 75 kilometers (km) by 75 km, nominal at the equator with some granules at the end of an orbit segment reaching 150 km in length.

Known Issues
• Data acquisition gap: From September 13, 2022, to January 6, 2023, a power issue resulted in a shutdown of the EMIT sensor. No data were acquired during that time frame.

Product Summary

Platforms
ISS
Instruments
EMIT Imaging Spectrometer
Spatial Extent

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

Spatial Resolution
60 Meters x 60 Meters
Location
GLOBAL LAND
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2022-08-09 to Present
Temporal Resolution
Varies
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) ,
Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/EMIT)
Concept ID
C3911089796-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
114467
Processing Level
2B
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Land Use/Land Cover

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

Brodrick, P., Ochoa, F., Okin, G., Coleman, R. W., Chadwick, D., Grant, K., Chlus, A., Olson-Duvall, W., Lundeen, S., Jhalani, V., Thompson, D., & Green, R. (2026). EMIT L2B Fractional Cover and Uncertainty 60 m v001 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/EMIT/EMITL2BFRCOV.001 Date Accessed: 2026-02-09

File Naming Convention

EMIT_L2B_FRCOVPV_001_20250916T015733_2525902_003.tif

The file name begins with the Sensor (EMIT) followed by the Processing Level (L2B), Product Type (FRCOV), Variable Name (PV), Product Version Number (001), Date and Time of Acquisition designated as YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS (20250916T015733), Orbit Identification Number (2525902), Scene Identification Number (003), and the Data Format (tif).

Documents

Variables

Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.

The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
BARE Fractional Cover, Bare Soil (aerial fraction) Fraction float64 -9999 0 to 1 N/A
BAREUNC Fractional Cover Uncertainty, Bare Soil (aerial fraction) Fraction float64 -9999 0 to 1 N/A
NPV Fractional Cover, Non-Photosynthetic Vegetation (aerial fraction) Fraction float64 -9999 0 to 1 N/A
NPVUNC Fractional Cover Uncertainty, Non-Photosynthetic Vegetation (aerial fraction) Fraction float64 -9999 0 to 1 N/A
PV Fractional Cover, Photosynthetic Vegetation (aerial fraction) Fraction float64 -9999 0 to 1 N/A
PVUNC Fractional Cover Uncertainty, Photosynthetic Vegetation (aerial fraction) Fraction float64 -9999 0 to 1 N/A
QC QC Flag Bands N/A int16 -9999 0 to 4 N/A
You're viewing 7 of 7