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Full catalog/S6A_GN_1B_RNXD_AX_
S6A_GN_1B_RNXD_AX_·v1·dataset

GPS tracking data for precise satellite position (Sentinel-6A)

Sentinel-6A GNSS-POD Level 1B Daily RINEX V1 (S6A_GN_1B_RNXD_AX_) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 1B active
In plain English

What it measures. Raw satellite-navigation tracking data, the GPS-style signals the satellite received, used to pin down exactly where it was in orbit.

How it's made. Recorded by the navigation receiver on the Sentinel-6A satellite and packaged by EUMETSAT in a standard navigation data format (RINEX-3).

How & where you'd use it. A building-block input used to compute the satellite's precise orbit, which underpins its sea-level and atmospheric measurements; most people use the results rather than this raw data directly.

What's measured

CLIMATE INDICATORS › ATMOSPHERIC/OCEAN INDICATORS › TEMPERATURE INDICATORS › TEMPERATURE VARIABILITYSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › RADIO WAVECLIMATE INDICATORS › ATMOSPHERIC/OCEAN INDICATORS › TEMPERATURE INDICES › COMMON SENSE CLIMATE INDEXSUN-EARTH INTERACTIONS › SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE FLUX › ELECTRON FLUXSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › SENSOR CHARACTERISTICS › GEOLOCATIONSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › SENSOR CHARACTERISTICS › PHASE AND AMPLITUDESPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › MICROWAVECLIMATE INDICATORS › ATMOSPHERIC/OCEAN INDICATORS › TEMPERATURE INDICES

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2020-11-26 → ongoing
  • Measured bySentinel-6A (GNSS)
  • Processing levelLevel 1B
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

This dataset provides the L1B Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Precise Orbit Determination (POD) data generated by European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) from Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich. The product provides raw satellite navigation system data and in the receiver independent exchange format version 3 (RINEX-3). Sentinel 6 is a collaborative mission between NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and EUMETSAT, with participation from European Space Agency (ESA), the USA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) of France. These organizations will deliver an operational mission as part of a two-satellite European Copernicus/Sentinel program. The Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich Jason-CS (Sentinel-6A) was launched in November 21, 2020. One objective of Sentinel 6 is to collect high-resolution vertical profiles of temperature and humidity, using GNSS RO sounding technique, to assess temperature and humidity changes in the troposphere and stratosphere and to support numerical weather prediction.

Get the data

s6a_gn_1b_rnxd_ax__access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="S6A_GN_1B_RNXD_AX_",
    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 GES_DISC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.