Data coverage
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). CYGNSSL1CALRAWIFV1.0 The CYGNSS Level 1 Calibrated Raw IF Version 1.0 dataset is produced by the CYGNSS Science Team of the University of Michigan, and it contains the first release, Version 1.0, of the CYGNSS Calibrated Raw Intermediate Frequency (IF) based L1 Product. CYGNSS was launched on 15 December 2016, it is a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Mission that was launched with the purpose of collecting the first frequent space‐based measurements of surface wind speeds in the inner core of tropical cyclones. Originally made up of a constellation of eight micro-satellites, the observatories provide nearly gap-free Earth coverage using an orbital inclination of approximately 35° from the equator, with a mean (i.e., average) revisit time of seven hours and a median revisit time of three hours. This product includes several established signal coherence detectors, including the power-ratio P ratio , complex zero-Doppler delay waveform and full entropy E full , and a novel fast entropy detector E fast . Both entropy detectors are provided with two temporal resolutions: 2 ms and 50 ms. Several scattered signal strength products are included: Signal-to-Noise Ratio SNR, reflected power P g , reflectivity Γ, and Normalized Bistatic Radar Cross-Section NBRCS. Each of these products is derived using a coherent integration time of T c = 1 ms and incoherent integration times of N inc = 1000, 500, 250, 100, 50, and 2 ms. Signal strength time series at the shorter (2 and 50 ms) times provides excellent detection of land-water transitions in heterogeneous scenes. Delay Doppler Maps (DDMs) are also generated with high delay (∆τ = 1/16 chip) and Doppler (∆f= 50 Hz) resolution. This suite of coherence detection methods can be used to detect the presence of small inland water bodies. CYGNSSL1CDRV1.0 This Level 1 (L1) dataset contains the Version 1.0 Climate Data Record (CDR) of the geo-located Delay Doppler Maps (DDMs) calibrated into Power Received (Watts) and Bistatic Radar Cross Section (BRCS) expressed in units of m2 from the Delay Doppler Mapping Instrument aboard the CYGNSS satellite constellation. Other useful scientific and engineering measurement parameters include the DDM of Normalized Bistatic Radar Cross Section (NBRCS), the Delay Doppler Map Average (DDMA) of the NBRCS near the specular reflection point, and the Leading Edge Slope (LES) of the integrated delay waveform. The L1 dataset contains a number of other engineering and science measurement parameters, including sets of quality flags/indicators, error estimates, and bias estimates as well as a variety of orbital, spacecraft/sensor health, timekeeping, and geolocation parameters. At most, 8 netCDF data files (each file corresponding to a unique spacecraft in the CYGNSS constellation) are provided each day; under nominal conditions, there are typically 6-8 spacecraft retrieving data each day, but this can be maximized to 8 spacecraft under special circumstances in which higher than normal retrieval frequency is needed (i.e., during tropical storms and or hurricanes). Latency is approximately 2 months, depending on the availability of the MERRA wind speed reanalysis. The Version 1.0 CDR represents the first climate-quality release and is a collection of reanalysis products derived from the v2.1 Level 1 data. Calibration accuracy and long term stability are improved relative to the SDR v2.1 using a new trackwise correction algorithm which constrains the average value of the L1 data using MERRA-2 reanalysis wind speeds. Details of the algorithm are provide in the Trackwise Corrected CDR Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document. The CDR exhibits improved calibration accuracy and stability over v2.1. Trackwise correction is applied to the two primary CYGNSS L1 science data products the normalized bistatic radar cross section (NBRCS) and the leading edge slope of the Doppler-integrated delay waveform (LES). The correction compensates for variations in the transmit power level of the GPS signals measured by the CYGNSS bistatic radar receivers. By comparison, the v2.1 SDR L1 algorithm assumes a constant GPS transmit power, and variations in it can be misinterpreted as variations in the L1 data and in subsequent L2 science data products derived from them. The GPS constellation consists of several different satellite models (a.k.a. block types) and the level of transmit power variation differs between them. The more recent Block IIF models (which account for ~37% of the GPS constellation) have significantly larger variations than the older models and, for this reason, they have been screened out and not used to produce v2.1 L2 or L3 science data products. Trackwise correction eliminates the need for this screening so CDR L2 and L3 data products now include Block IIF samples. It should be noted that the trackwise correction algorithm cannot be successfully applied to all v2.1 SDR L1 data, so there is also some loss of samples that were present in v2.1. Overall, there is a significant increase in sampling and improvement in spatial coverage with the CDR products. CYGNSSL1CDRV1.1 This Level 1 (L1) dataset contains the Version 1.1 Climate Data Record (CDR) of the geo-located Delay Doppler Maps (DDMs) calibrated into Power Received (Watts) and Bistatic Radar Cross Section (BRCS) expressed in units of m2 from the Delay Doppler Mapping Instrument aboard the CYGNSS satellite constellation. Other useful scientific and engineering measurement parameters include the DDM of Normalized Bistatic Radar Cross Section (NBRCS), the Delay Doppler Map Average (DDMA) of the NBRCS near the specular reflection point, and the Leading Edge Slope (LES) of the integrated delay waveform. The L1 dataset contains a number of other engineering and science measurement parameters, including sets of quality flags/indicators, error estimates, and bias estimates as well as a variety of orbital, spacecraft/sensor health, timekeeping, and geolocation parameters. At most, 8 netCDF data files (each file corresponding to a unique spacecraft in the CYGNSS constellation) are provided each day; under nominal conditions, there are typically 6-8 spacecraft retrieving data each day, but this can be maximized to 8 spacecraft under special circumstances in which higher than normal retrieval frequency is needed (i.e., during tropical storms and or hurricanes). Latency is approximately 1 month, depending on the availability of the MERRA wind speed reanalysis. The Version 1.1 CDR is a collection of reanalysis products derived from the SDR v3.0 Level 1 data (https://doi.org/10.5067/CYGNS-L1X30 ). Calibration accuracy and long term stability are improved relative to SDR v3.0 using the same trackwise correction algorithm as was used by CDR v1.0 (https://doi.org/10.5067/CYGNS-L1C10 ), which was derived from SDR v2.1 Level 1 data (https://doi.org/10.5067/CYGNS-L1X21 ). Details of the algorithm are provided in the Trackwise Corrected CDR Algorithm Theoretical Basis
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