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Full catalog/ALOS_PSR_L1.1
ALOS_PSR_L1.1·v1·dataset

Raw radar that sees through clouds (ALOS PALSAR)

ALOS PALSAR Level 1.1 Product
land NASA ASF Level 1
In plain English

What it measures. Radar images that can see the land day or night and through clouds. (The provided description is just a one-line label, so the exact contents beyond basic radar imagery aren't spelled out here.)

How it's made. Collected by the PALSAR radar instrument on Japan's ALOS satellite, at an early processing stage (Level 1.1).

How & where you'd use it. A low-level radar input that researchers typically process further to map land cover, forests, and surface change; most people would encounter it via more finished products.

What's measured

AGRICULTURE › FOREST SCIENCE › REFORESTATIONBIOSPHERE › ECOSYSTEMS › TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMSCRYOSPHERE › FROZEN GROUND › PERMAFROSTCRYOSPHERE › FROZEN GROUND › ROCK GLACIERSCRYOSPHERE › GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS › GLACIER ELEVATION/ICE SHEET ELEVATIONCRYOSPHERE › GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS › GLACIER MOTION/ICE SHEET MOTIONCRYOSPHERE › GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS › GLACIER THICKNESS/ICE SHEET THICKNESSCRYOSPHERE › GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS › GLACIER TOPOGRAPHY/ICE SHEET TOPOGRAPHYCRYOSPHERE › GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS › GLACIERSCRYOSPHERE › GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS › ICE SHEETSCRYOSPHERE › GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS › ICEBERGSCRYOSPHERE › SEA ICE › ICE DEFORMATIONCRYOSPHERE › SEA ICE › ICE DEPTH/THICKNESSCRYOSPHERE › SEA ICE › ICE EDGES

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2006-01-23 → 2011-05-23
  • Measured byALOS (PALSAR)
  • Processing levelLevel 1
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

ALOS PALSAR Level 1.1

Get the data

alos_psr_l1.1_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="ALOS_PSR_L1.1",
    version="1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from ASF
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.