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Full catalog/SWOT_L1B_HR_SLC_2.0
SWOT_L1B_HR_SLC_2.0·v2.0·dataset

Raw radar measuring water heights (SWOT)

SWOT Level 1B High-Rate Single-look Complex Data Product, Version C
land NASA POCLOUD Level 1B netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Raw, finely detailed radar images of the surface captured by each of the satellite's antennas, before they're turned into water-height maps.

How it's made. This is an early-stage product from the SWOT satellite's radar, processed into single-look complex images and delivered as roughly 64-by-64-kilometer tiles covering half the radar swath.

How & where you'd use it. A low-level building-block input for specialists who generate water-surface elevation products; most users work with the higher-level water-height data rather than these raw images.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › RADAR › RADAR IMAGERY

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2022-12-16 → ongoing
  • Measured bySWOT (KaRIn, Jason-class Altimeter, AMR, DORIS, GPSP, LRA)
  • Processing levelLevel 1B
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusSUPERSEDED

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

High rate data processed to single-look complex SAR images for each antenna. Gridded tile (approx 64x64 km2); half swath (left or right side of full swath). Available in netCDF-4 file format. Please note that this collection contains SWOT Version C science data products.

Get the data

swot_l1b_hr_slc_2.0_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SWOT_L1B_HR_SLC_2.0",
    version="2.0",
    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 POCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.