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Description

This dataset contains the version 1.0 CYGNSS level 3 ocean microplastic concentration data record, which provides 18 netCDF files, each containing one month of daily gridded maps of microplastic number density (#/km^2). Microplastic concentration number density is indirectly estimated by an empirical relationship between ocean surface roughness and wind speed (Evans and Ruf, 2021). User caution is advised in regions containing independent, non-correlative factors affecting ocean surface roughness, such as anomalous atmospheric conditions within the Intertropical Convergence Zone, biogenic surfactants (such as algal blooms), oil spills, etc. This product reports microplastic concentration on a daily temporal and 0.25-degree latitude/longitude spatial grid with 30-day, 1 degree latitude/longitude feature resolution, as constrained by the binning and spatiotemporal averaging of the Mean Square Slope (MSS) anomaly (i.e., difference between measured and predicted ocean surface roughness for a given wind speed).

Product Summary

Platforms
CYGNSS
Instruments
DDMI
Spatial Extent

N: 37.125 S: -37.125 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
0.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.25 Decimal Degrees
Location
GLOBAL ,
TROPICS
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2017-04-02 to 2018-09-25
Data Partner
Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System Mission, NASA Earth Science System Pathfinder, University of Michigan (NASA/ESSP/UMICH/CYGNSS) ,
Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/PODAAC)
Concept ID
C2142677420-POCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
18
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
MICROPLASTIC CONCENTRATION

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

CYGNSS Science Operations Center. (2021). CYGNSS L3 Ocean Microplastic Concentration Dataset [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/CYGNS-L3M10 Date Accessed: 2026-04-21

Documents

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
lat Latitude coordinate at the center of the +/- 0.5 degree averaging bin, degrees_north, at 0.25 degree increments. Range is -37 .. 37. degrees_north double N/A N/A 1 N/A
lon Longitude coordinate at the center of the +/- 0.5 degree averaging bin, degrees_east, at 0.25 degree increments. Range is 0 .. 359.75. degrees_east double N/A N/A 1 N/A
MP_concentration Near-surface ocean microplastic number density geometrically averaged over the 1 x 1 degree cell centered on lat and lon and averaged over one month centered on Timestamp, as derived from anomalies in CYGNSS L2 MSS samples. count km-2 double -9999 N/A 1 N/A
time Timestamp coordinate at the center of the 30 day bin, at 30 day resolution. Range is one month. seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 00:00 double N/A N/A 1 N/A
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