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Description

The CYGNSS Level 3 Soil Moisture Product provides volumetric water content estimates for soils between 0-5 cm depth at a 6-hour discretization for most of the subtropics. The data were produced by CYGNSS investigators at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and the University Colorado at Boulder (CU), and derive from version 2.1 of the CYGNSS L1 SDR. The soil moisture algorithm uses collocated soil moisture retrievals from SMAP to calibrate CYGNSS observations from the same day. For a given location, a linear relationship between the SMAP soil moisture and CYGNSS reflectivity is determined and used to transform the CYGNSS observations into soil moisture. The data are archived in daily files in netCDF-4 format. Two soil moisture variables report the volumetric water content in units of cm3/cm3. The variable SM_subdaily includes up to four soil moisture estimates per day. Another variable SM_daily provides a daily average. The time series covers the period from March 2017 to present.

Product Summary

Platforms
CYGNSS
Instruments
DDMI
Spatial Extent

N: 38 S: -38 E: 164 W: -135

Spatial Resolution
0.37 Decimal Degrees x 0.3 Decimal Degrees
Location
GLOBAL ,
TROPICS
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2017-03-18
Data Partner
Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/PODAAC) ,
COSMIC Data Analysis and Archive Center, Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR/COSMIC/CDAAC)
Concept ID
C2205122332-POCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
2660
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Soil Moisture/Water Content

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

Chew, C., & Small, E. (2020). UCAR-CU CYGNSS Level 3 Soil Moisture Version 1.0 [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/CYGNU-L3SM1 Date Accessed: 2026-05-13

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Enhanced CyGNSS Soil Moisture Retrieval Validated by In-Situ Data in Arellana, Javier, Grings, Francisco, Franco, Mariano Soil Moisture/Water Content
Recent Development and Innovative Tools for Climate and Hydrological Data Collection and Analysis in the Abbay Basin Getaneh, Yonas, Abera, Wuletawu, Ayehu, Getachew Tesfaye, Tibebe, Degefie, Tamene, Lulseged Reforestation, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Permafrost, Rock Glaciers, Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet Elevation, Glacier Motion/Ice Sheet Motion, Glacier Thickness/Ice Sheet Thickness, Glacier Topography/Ice Sheet Topography, Glaciers, Ice Sheets, Icebergs, Ice Deformation, Ice Depth/Thickness, Ice Edges, Ice Extent, Ice Floes, Ice Growth/Melt, Ice Roughness, Ice Temperature, Ice Types, Icebergs, Leads, Pack Ice, Polynyas, Reflectance, Sea Ice Motion, Ice Extent, Ice Growth/Melt, Ice Motion, Ice Velocity, Lake Ice, Permafrost, River Ice, Snow Cover, Landslides, Aeolian Landforms, Coastal Landforms, Fluvial Landforms, Glacial Landforms, Karst Landforms, Tectonic Landforms, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Landscape Ecology, Landscape Patterns, Landscape Processes, Reforestation, Surface Roughness, Terrain Elevation, Topographic Effects, Barrier Islands, Beaches, Deltas, Dunes, Estuaries, Fjords, Inlets, Lagoons, Mangroves, Marshes, Rocky Coasts, Shorelines, Wind Waves, Surface Winds, Ice Deformation, Ice Depth/Thickness, Ice Edges, Ice Extent, Ice Floes, Ice Roughness, Ice Types, Icebergs, Leads, Pack Ice, Polynyas, Sea Ice Motion, Glacial Landforms, Caldera, Cinder Cone, Faults, Folds, Geyser, Graben, Horst, Lava Dome, Lava Plain, Maar, Mountains, Plateau, Ridge, Rift Valley, Tuya, Volcano, Tectonic Landforms, Earthquakes, Plate Tectonics, Volcanic Activity, Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet Elevation, Glacier Motion/Ice Sheet Motion, Glacier Topography/Ice Sheet Topography, Glaciers, Ice Sheets, Icebergs, Ice Extent, Ice Growth/Melt, Ice Motion, Ice Velocity, Lake Ice, Permafrost, River Ice, Soil Moisture/Water Content
Comprehensive Analysis of CYGNSS GNSS-R data for Enhanced Soil Moisture Retrieval Setti, Paulo, Tabibi, Sajad Soil Temperature, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Radar Cross-Section, Radar Reflectivity, SIGMA NAUGHT, Flight Data Logs, Radar Cross-Section, Radar Reflectivity
Evaluation of SMAP and CYGNSS Soil Moistures in Drought Prediction Using Multiple Linear Regression and GLDAS Product Edokossi, Komi, Jin, Shuanggen, Calabia, Andres, Molina, Inigo, Mazhar, Usman Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Total Surface Precipitation Rate, Brightness Temperature, SIGMA NAUGHT
CYGNSS toprak nemi verilerinin SMAP uydusu ve ISMN istasyonlar ile karslastrmal analizi Cevikalp, Muhammed Rasit, Isk, Mustafa Serkan, Celik, Mehmet Furkan, Musaoglu, Nebiye Soil Moisture/Water Content
Assessing the soil moisture-precipitation feedback in Australia: CYGNSS observations Bui, Hien X, Li, Yi-Xian, Sherwood, Steven C, Reid, Kimberley J, Dommenget, Dietmar Soil Moisture/Water Content, Precipitation, Precipitation Amount, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Rain
Evaluation of Spire GNSS-R reflectivity from multiple GNSS constellations for soil moisture estimation Setti, Paulo T., Tabibi, Sajad Radar Cross-Section, Radar Reflectivity, Soil Moisture/Water Content
Studying Brown Ocean ReIntensification of Hurricane Florence Using CYGNSS and SMAP Soil Moisture Data and a Numerical Weather Model Li, Zhi, Tiwari, Alka, Sui, Xinxin, Garrison, James, Marks, Frank, Niyogi, Dev Soil Moisture/Water Content
First attempt of global-scale assimilation of subdaily scale soil moisture estimates from CYGNSS and SMAP into a land surface model Kim, Hyunglok, Lakshmi, Venkataraman, Kwon, Yonghwan, Kumar, Sujay V Soil Moisture/Water Content
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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
latitude latitude degrees_north float N/A N/A 1 N/A
longitude longitude degrees_east float N/A N/A 1 N/A
SIGMA_daily units represent soil moisture content as a fractional volume (cm3 cm-3) 1 float -9999 N/A 1 N/A
SIGMA_subdaily units represent soil moisture content as a fractional volume (cm3 cm-3) 1 float -9999 N/A 1 N/A
SM_daily units represent soil moisture content as a fractional volume (cm3 cm-3) 1 float -9999 N/A 1 N/A
SM_subdaily units represent soil moisture content as a fractional volume (cm3 cm-3) 1 float -9999 N/A 1 N/A
time time days since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC float N/A N/A 1 N/A
timeintervals start and stop time for the sub-daily time periods hours float -9999 N/A 1 N/A
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