ECO_L2_CLOUD v002

ECOSTRESS Swath Cloud Mask Instantaneous L2 Global 70 m


PI: Simon Hook, Glynn Hulley

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. A map of the acquisition coverage can be found in figure 2 on the ECOSTRESS website.

The ECOSTRESS Swath Cloud Mask Instantaneous L2 Global 70 m (ECO_L2_CLOUD) Version 2 data product is derived using a single-channel Bayesian cloud threshold with a look-up-table (LUT) approach. The ECOSTRESS Level 2 cloud product provides a cloud mask that can be used to determine cloud cover for accurate land surface temperature and evapotranspiration estimation. The corresponding ECO_L1B_GEO data product is required to georeference the ECO_L2_CLOUD data product.

The ECO_L2_CLOUD Version 2 data product contains two cloud mask layers: Brightness temperature LUT test and Final cloud mask. Information on how to interpret the bit fields in the cloud mask is provided in Table 7 of the User Guide.

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Characteristics

Improvements/Changes from Previous Versions

  • ECO_L2_CLOUD Version 2 data product algorithm has been revamped to have a more rigorous single-channel Bayesian cloud threshold with a look-up-table (LUT). See Section 3.1 of the User Guide.

  • Addition of brightness temperature LUT test and brightness temperature difference test data layers.

Collection and Granule

Collection

Characteristic Description
CollectionECOSTRESS
DOI10.5067/ECOSTRESS/ECO_L2_CLOUD.002
File Size~1.5 MB
Temporal ResolutionVaries
Temporal Extent2018-07-09 to Present
Spatial ExtentGlobal (+/- 52 degrees latitude)
Coordinate SystemN/A
DatumN/A
File FormatHDF5
Geographic Dimensions400 km x 400 km

Granule

Characteristic Description
Number of Science Dataset (SDS) Layers2
Columns/Rows5400 x 5632
Pixel Size70 m

Layers / Variables

SDS Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value No Data Value Valid Range Scale Factor
Cloud_confidence Brightness temperature LUT test N/A 8-bit unsigned integer 255 N/A 0 to 3 N/A
Cloud_final Final cloud mask N/A 8-bit unsigned integer 255 N/A 0,1 N/A

Cloud Confidence Mask Values

Class Description
0 Confident Clear
1 Probably Clear
2 Probably Cloudy
3 Confident Cloudy

Cloud Final Mask Values

Class Description
0 Clear
1 Cloudy

Product Quality

Information on the quality of this product is not provided.

Known Issues

  • Data acquisition gap: ECOSTRESS was launched on June 29, 2018, and moved to autonomous science operations on August 20, 2018, following a successful in-orbit checkout period. On September 29, 2018, ECOSTRESS experienced an anomaly with its primary mass storage unit (MSU). ECOSTRESS has a primary and secondary MSU (A and B). On December 5, 2018, the instrument was switched to the secondary MSU and science operations resumed. On March 14, 2019, the secondary MSU experienced a similar anomaly, temporarily halting science acquisitions. On May 15, 2019, a new data acquisition approach was implemented, and science acquisitions resumed. To optimize the new acquisition approach TIR bands 2, 4 and 5 are being downloaded. The data products are as previously, except the bands not downloaded contain fill values (L1 radiance and L2 emissivity). This approach was implemented from May 15, 2019, through April 28, 2023.

  • Data acquisition gap: From February 8 to February 16, 2020, an ECOSTRESS instrument issue resulted in a data anomaly that created striping in band 4 (10.5 micron). These data products have been reprocessed and are available for download. No ECOSTRESS data were acquired on February 17, 2020, due to the instrument being in SAFEHOLD. Data acquired following the anomaly have not been affected.

  • Data acquisition: ECOSTRESS has now successfully returned to 5-band mode after being in 3-band mode since 2019. This feature was successfully enabled following a Data Processing Unit firmware update (version 4.1) to the payload on April 28, 2023. To better balance contiguous science data scene variables, 3-band collection is currently being interleaved with 5-band acquisitions over the orbital day/night periods.


About the image

ECOSTRESS Cloud Confidence Mask data from the ECO_L2_CLOUD product over eastern Washington, United States, acquired on October 31, 2022.

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Documentation

User Guide
Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD)
Product Specification Document (PSD)
Algorithm Specification Document (ASD)
Earthdata Search Quick Guide

Using the Data

Access Data

Citation

DOI: 10.5067/ECOSTRESS/ECO_L2_CLOUD.002