SPL1A_RO_003·v3·dataset
Raw radar listening-only signals from SMAP
SMAP_L1A_RADAR_RECEIVE_ONLY_V003
land NASA ASF Level 1 active
In plain English
What it measures. The rawest form of radar data from SMAP, captured during periods when the spacecraft's radar was only listening rather than transmitting its own signal.
How it's made. Recorded by NASA's SMAP satellite at the earliest processing stage (Level 1A), essentially the radar's unprocessed receive-only readings.
How & where you'd use it. This is a low-level building-block input. Most people don't use it directly; it feeds into higher-level SMAP products that scientists actually work with.
What's measured
SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › PLATFORM CHARACTERISTICS › ORBITAL CHARACTERISTICSSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › RADAR › RADAR IMAGERYSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › RADAR › SIGMA NAUGHT
Coverage & cadence
- Time span2015-02-12 → ongoing
- Measured bySMAP (SAR)
- Processing levelLevel 1
- Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
- 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
SMAP Level 1A Radar Receive Only Product Version 3
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="SPL1A_RO_003",
version="3",
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 ASFBrowsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.