Full catalog/SWOT_POE_2.0
SWOT_POE_2.0·v2.0·dataset

Exactly where the SWOT satellite was in orbit

SWOT Precise Orbit Ephemeris (POE)
deformation NASA POCLOUD Level NA netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. The precise position and velocity of the SWOT satellite at each moment, telling you exactly where it was in its orbit.

How it's made. A precise orbit reconstruction computed after the fact for the first SWOT reprocessing, organized into daily files and available within about 35 days.

How & where you'd use it. A foundational reference used to accurately locate SWOT's water and ocean measurements on the ground; people typically use it behind the scenes rather than on its own.

What's measured

SOLID EARTH › GRAVITY/GRAVITATIONAL FIELD › SATELLITE ORBITS/REVOLUTIONSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › PLATFORM CHARACTERISTICS › ORBITAL CHARACTERISTICS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2022-12-16 → ongoing
  • Measured bySWOT (DORIS, GPSP, LRA, Star Tracker)
  • Processing levelLevel NA
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusSUPERSEDED

What you can do with it

  • Measure ground motion and subsidence (InSAR)
  • Track earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides
  • Map elevation and terrain change
Official description

Precise Orbit Ephemeris (POE) providing position and velocity vectors of satellite center of mass used in the first SWOT reprocessing. POE products are organized into daily files, spanning 26 hours and centered at 12:00:00 (TAI) of each day (i.e., from day D-1 23:00 to day D+1 01:00 TAI time). Available in netCDF-4 file format with latency of < 35 days.

Get the data

swot_poe_2.0_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SWOT_POE_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.