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PREFIRE_SAT2_1A-RAD·vR01·dataset

Calibrated far-infrared light readings (PREFIRE 2)

PREFIRE Level 1A Calibrated Spectral Radiance from PREFIRE Satellite 2 R01
land NASA LARC_CLOUD Level 1A active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Calibrated readings of how much far-infrared and mid-infrared energy (heat radiation, roughly 5 to 53 micrometers wavelength) the sensor recorded, across 63 channels.

How it's made. A small spectrometer on one of the twin PREFIRE CubeSats records raw counts that are converted to calibrated radiance using an onboard reference target and views of space; this version is not yet tagged with locations.

How & where you'd use it. A building-block input that feeds the next, geolocated stage. On its own it is not useful for direct scientific study, since it isn't yet matched to places on Earth.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › INFRARED WAVELENGTHS › INFRARED RADIANCEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › EARTH RADIATION BUDGETATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › LONGWAVE RADIATION › UPWELLING LONGWAVE RADIATION

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2024-06-29 → ongoing
  • Measured byPREFIRE-SAT2 (TIRS-PREFIRE)
  • Processing levelLevel 1A
  • Spatial extent-180, -84, 180, 84
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

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

PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far InfraRed Experiment) Level 1A Calibrated Spectral Radiance from PREFIRE Satellite 2 (PREFIRE_SAT2_1A-RAD) contains calibrated radiance data retrieved from data collected by the PREFIRE Thermal Infrared Spectrometer (TIRS-PREFIRE) aboard PREFIRE-SAT2. Dual CubeSats each carry a TIRS-PREFIRE, a push broom spectrometer with 63 channels measuring mid- and far-infrared (FIR) radiation from approximately 5 to 53 µm. Most polar emissions are in the FIR but have not been measured on a large scale. PREFIRE aims to fill knowledge gaps in the global energy budget by more accurately characterizing polar emissions. This information will then be assimilated into global circulation and other models to predict future conditions more accurately.Digital number counts from the PREFIRE_SAT2_0-PAYLOAD-TLM collection are converted to radiance and calibrated using an internal blackbody target and space-look data.The PREFIRE_SAT2_1A-RAD data are used as input for PREFIRE_SAT2_1B-RAD, which is geolocated radiance. Given that it is not geolocated, PREFIRE_SAT2_1A-RAD is not useful for direct scientific study.Science data retrieval for this collection started on June 29, 2024, and is ongoing. Geographic coverage is global, with the greatest concentration of data in the polar regions. These data have a temporal resolution of 0.707 seconds and is available in NetCDF-4.Calibrated radiance data for the sister instrument aboard PREFIRE-SAT1 can be found in the PREFIRE_SAT1_1A-RAD collection.

Get the data

prefire_sat2_1a-rad_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="PREFIRE_SAT2_1A-RAD",
    version="R01",
    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 LARC_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.