COWVR STP-H8 Antenna and Microwave Brightness Temperatures Version 10.0

This data set includes satellite-based observations of calibrated, geo-located antenna temperature and brightness temperatures, along with the sensor telemetry used to derive those values. Brightness temperatures are derived from the microwave band frequencies 18.7 GHz, 23.8 GHz, and 34.5 GHz. This product is best suited for a cal/val user or sensor expert. These level 1c measurements make up the temperature sensor data record (TSDR) from the COWVR (Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer) sensor aboard the international space station (ISS), starting in January 2022 forward-streaming to PO.DAAC till the planned mission end in December 2024. Its swath width is 1012 km and spatial resolution is <35 km. Data files in HDF5 format are available at roughly hourly frequency (the ISS orbit period is ~90 minutes), although note that the coverage shown in the thumbnail is for a full day. Files include calibration and flag data in addition to brightness temperatures. Version 10.0 is the first public release, and is named as such to be consistent with the internal version numbers of the project team prior to release



The COWVR sensor is a fully polarimetric, conically imaging microwave radiometer for measuring ocean surface wind vectors. It operates nominally on-orbit aboard the ISS and data are non-sun-synchronous. It was deployed as part of the Space Test Program - Houston 8 (STP-H8) technology demonstration mission. A successful COWVR mission will demonstrate a lower-cost sensor architecture (e.g. in comparison to WindSat) for providing imaging passive microwave data, including ocean surface vector wind products for the Department of Defense (DoD). COWVR was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and flown by the United States Space Force, Space Systems Command, Development Corps for Innovation and Prototyping.