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Full catalog/SNEX17_SnowSAR_Raw
SNEX17_SnowSAR_Raw·v1·dataset

Raw radar waveforms over snow from a plane (SnowEx 2017)

SnowEx17 SnowSAR Raw FMCW Waveforms V001
land NASA NSIDC_CPRD Level 0 Binary
In plain English

What it measures. Holds the raw, unprocessed radar signals an airplane instrument bounced off snow-covered ground, captured at two radar frequencies over parts of Colorado.

How it's made. Collected by the SnowSAR radar flown on a NP-3C Orion aircraft during the SnowEx 2017 campaign over about a week in February 2017.

How & where you'd use it. A raw input product mainly useful to specialists; most people would work with the processed SnowSAR version, which is archived separately.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › RADAR › RADAR IMAGERY

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2017-02-16 → 2017-02-22
  • Measured byP-3B (SnowSAR)
  • Processing levelLevel 0
  • Spatial extent-109.05, 37, -102.05, 41
  • FormatsBinary
  • 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

This data set, part of the SnowEx 2017 campaign, contains raw data captured from the SnowSAR instrument. The processed SnowSAR data are also archived at NSIDC (DOI: 10.5067/TWRTXCYBCBB8). The SnowSAR instrument flew on the NP-3C Orion aircraft and collected data at the X (9.6 GHz) and Ku (17.25 GHz) bands. Data were captured across Colorado, including near the SnowEx 2017 Grand Mesa, Colorado study site and Vail, Colorado. Data were acquired between 16 February 2017 and 22 February 2017.

Get the data

snex17_snowsar_raw_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SNEX17_SnowSAR_Raw",
    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 NSIDC_CPRD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.