The core partner data centres that are integrated in NorDataNet are listed in https://www.nordatanet.no/en/node/69. In addition to this NorDataNet harvests information on relevant datasets from a number of other data centres. The data centre responsible for the data presented is usually (but not always) listed in the discovery metadata. In essence NorDataNet is an aggregating service that combines information from a number of existing data centres.
Citation of data and service
If you use data retrieved through this portal, please acknowledge our funding source:
Research Council of Norway, project number 245967/F50, Norwegian Scientific Data Network.
Always remember to cite data when used!
Citation information for individual datasets is often provided in the metadata. However, not all datasets have this information embedded in the discovery metadata. On a general basis a citation of a dataset include the same components as any other citation:
author, title,
year of publication,
publisher (for data this is often the archive where it is housed),
edition or version,
access information (a URL or persistent identifier, e.g. DOI if provided)
All partner repositories of NorDataNet support Digital Object Identifiers (DOI), but not all datasets are minted. Whether or not minted depends often on source of the data (e.g. operational data are often yet not minted). However, all data centres support persistent identifiers according to local systems. The information required to properly cite a dataset is normally provided in the discovery metadata the datasets.
Brief user guide
The Data Access Portal has information in 3 columns. An outline of the content in these columns is provided above. When first entering the search interface, all potential datasets are listed. Datasets are indicated in the map and results tabulation elements which are located in the middle column. The order of results can be modified using the "Sort by" option in the left column. On top of this column is normally relevant guidance information to user presented as collapsible elements.
If the user want to refine the search, this can be done by constraining the bounding box search. This is done in the map - the listing of datasets is automatically updated. Date constraints can be added in the left column. For these to take effect, the user has to push the button marked search. In the left column it is also possible to specific text elements to search for in the datasets. Again pushing the button marked "Search" is necessary for these to take action. Complex search patterns can be constructed using logical operators identified in the drop down menu with and phrases embedded in quotation marks. Prefixing a phrase with '-' negates the phrase (i.e. should not occur in the results). Searches are case insensitive.
Other elements indicated in the left and right columns are facet searches, i.e. these are keywords that are found in the datasets and all datasets that contain these specific keywords in the appropriate metadata elements are listed together. Further refinement can be done using full text, date or bounding box constraints. Individuals, organisations and data centres involved in generating or curating the datasets are listed in the facets in the right column. The combination of search fields (including facets) is based on a logical "AND" combination of the fields, i.e. all conditions are fulfilled for the results provided.
Notice to Data Users: The documentation for this data set was provided solely by the Principal Investigator(s) and was not further developed, thoroughly reviewed, or edited by NSIDC. Thus, support for this data set may be limited.
This data set contains Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) Level-3 daily measurements of surface soil moisture and temperatures.
This enhanced Level-2 (L2) product contains calibrated, geolocated, brightness temperatures acquired by the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) radiometer during 6:00 a.m. descending and 6:00 p.m. ascending half-orbit passes. This product is derived from SMAP Level-1B (L1B) interpolated antenna temperatures. Backus-Gilbert optimal interpolation techniques are used to extract maximum information from SMAP antenna temperatures and convert them to brightness temperatures, which are posted to the 9 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid, Version 2.0 (EASE-Grid 2.0) in a global cylindrical projection [available as the SPl1CTB_E product]. As of 2021, the data are also posted to the Northern Hemisphere EASE-Grid 2.0, an azimuthal equal-area projection. These 9-km brightness temperatures are then used to retrieve surface soil moisture posted on the 9-km grid [this SPL2SMP_E product].
As of 31 August 2022, this data set is retired and no longer available for download. We recommend using <a href="https://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0630">MEaSUREs Calibrated Enhanced-Resolution Passive Microwave Daily EASE-Grid 2.0 Brightness Temperature ESDR, Version 1</a> data set as an alternative. This data set provides daily, near-real-time Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) brightness temperatures in the Equal-Area Scalable Earth-Grid (EASE-Grid). The data set consists of gridded data in two projections: Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere. The data lag by one day and provide 365 days of near-real-time data. The spatial resolution is 25 km for all channels. Data are contained in flat binary files.
This data set contains brightness temperatures obtained by the Passive Active L-band System (PALS) aircraft instrument. The data were collected as part of SMAPVEX15, the Soil Moisture Active Passive Validation Experiment 2015.
This enhanced Level-3 (L3) soil moisture product provides a composite of daily estimates of global land surface conditions retrieved by the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) radiometer. This product is a daily composite of SMAP Level-2 (L2) soil moisture which is derived from SMAP Level-1C (L1C) interpolated brightness temperatures. Backus-Gilbert optimal interpolation techniques are used to extract information from SMAP antenna temperatures and convert them to brightness temperatures, which are posted to the 9 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid, Version 2.0 (EASE-Grid 2.0) in a global cylindrical projection. As of 2021, the data are also posted to the Northern Hemisphere EASE-Grid 2.0, an azimuthal equal-area projection.
Notice to Data Users: The documentation for this data set was provided solely by the Principal Investigator(s) and was not further developed, thoroughly reviewed, or edited by NSIDC. Thus, support for this data set may be limited.
This data set contains Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) Level-3 daily measurements of surface soil moisture and vegetation/roughness water content interpretive information, as well as brightness temperatures and quality control variables.
This data set contains brightness temperature data obtained by the Passive Active L-band System (PALS) microwave aircraft radiometer instrument as part of the Cloud and Land Surface Interaction Campaign 2007 (CLASIC07).
The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) instrument on the NASA EOS Aqua satellite provides global passive microwave measurements of the Earth. NSIDC produces AMSR-E gridded brightness temperature data by interpolating AMSR-E data (6.9 GHz, 10.7 GHz, 18.7 GHz, 23.8 GHz, 36.5 GHz, and 89.0 GHz) to the output grids from swath space using an inverse-distance squared method. AMSR-E/Aqua L2A Global Swath Spatially-Resampled Brightness Temperatures (AE_L2A) input source data are used to create the gridded brightness temperature data.
NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Program, Earth Science Information Partners Program, Earth Observing System Data Information System (NOAA/NASA PATHFINDER, ESIP, EOSDIS)
The Nimbus-7 SMMR Pathfinder Brightness Temperatures data set contains global brightness temperatures in swath format (level 1b) from 25 October 1978 to 20 August 1987. The instrument obtained near-global coverage at five frequencies (6.6, 10.7, 18, 21, and 37 GHz) in both horizontal and vertical polarizations, at a constant incidence angle of 50.3 degrees, every six days. Data are stored as daily orbit files in compressed Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) and are available on FTP.
The Nimbus-7 SMMR Level 1B Pathfinder data set was created at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from a level 1A 'TAT' data set provided by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GFSC). The SMMR operated continuously from 25 Oct 1978 through 16 November 1987, at which time it began alernate-day operation. The processed level 1B SMMR data are stored as orbit files in HDF format. Each level 1B orbit file covers a time period of approximately 104.16 minutes. The file size for an uncompressed orbit file is approximately 4.3 megabytes. The total volume of the level 1B data set is approximately 70 gigabytes (compressed).
This data set contains twice-daily, enhanced-resolution brightness temperature data derived from the SMAP radiometer. Data are available on the Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, Temperate, and Mid-Latitude (sub-set of Global) EASE-Grid 2.0 projections and on the 3 km, 3.125 km, 9 km, 25 km, and 36 km resolution grids. This data set applies the same SIR technique used to derive brightness temperatures from the SMMR, AMSR-E, and SSM/I-SSMIS sensors and is a companion product for the MEaSUREs Calibrated Enhanced-Resolution Passive Microwave Daily EASE-Grid 2.0 Brightness Temperature ESDR data set (DOI: 10.5067/MEASURES/CRYOSPHERE/NSIDC-0630.001).
The Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (PSR) is an airborne microwave imaging radiometer developed and operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Environmental Technology Laboratory. Measurements were taken in regional areas of Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, USA and the Little Washita Watershed of Oklahoma, USA during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03).
This Level-1C (L1C) product contains calibrated and geolocated brightness temperatures acquired by the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) radiometer during 6:00 a.m. descending and 6:00 p.m. ascending half-orbit passes. This product is derived from SMAP L-band Level-1B time-ordered brightness temperatures resampled to an Earth-fixed, 36 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid, Version 2.0 (EASE-Grid 2.0) in three projections: global cylindrical, Northern Hemisphere azimuthal, and Southern Hemisphere azimuthal. This L1C product is a gridded version of the SMAP time-ordered Level-1B radiometer brightness temperature product.
NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Program, Earth Science Information Partners Program, Earth Observing System Data Information System (NOAA/NASA PATHFINDER, ESIP, EOSDIS)
This data set consists of brightness temperatures acquired from the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) on board the Nimbus-7 Pathfinder satellite. The brightness temperatures are gridded onto the Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid (EASE-Grid) and are presented in three different projections: Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, and global.
This Near Real-Time (NRT) data set corresponds to the standard SMAP L2 Radiometer Half-Orbit 36 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture (SPL2SMP) product. The data provide estimates of global land surface conditions measured by the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) passive microwave radiometer, the SMAP L-band radiometer. These Near Real-Time data are available within three hours of satellite observation. The data are created using the latest available ancillary data and spacecraft and antenna attitude data to reduce latency. The SMAP satellite orbits Earth every two to three days, providing half-orbit, ascending and descending, coverage from 86.4°S to 86.4°N in swaths 1000 km across. Data are stored for approximately two to three weeks. Thus, at any given time, users have access to at least fourteen consecutive days of Near Real-Time data through the NSIDC DAAC. Users deciding between the NRT and standard SMAP products should consider the immediacy of their needs versus the quality of the data required. Near real-time data are provided for operational needs whereas standard products meet the quality needs of scientific research. If latency is not a primary concern, users are encouraged to use the standard science product SPL2SMP (<a href="https://doi.org/10.5067/LPJ8F0TAK6E0">https://doi.org/10.5067/LPJ8F0TAK6E0</a>).