Product & Algorithm

1. Product

AMSR standard products will be distributed to general scientific users from the Earth Observation Center (EOC) after the initial calibration and validation period. EORC is responsible for processing and distributing research products (products involving new concepts or that are not fully validated yet). Several user services, including subset image distribution, will also be available at EORC.

NASA AMSR-E science team also has its own processing system and generates geophysical products for AMSR-E. Both NASA and NASDA science teams are competitively developing algorithms for better products eventually.

AMSR Data Release

AMSR-E Data Release

The available products
- Level1A (Law sensor counts with radiometric and geometric information)
- Level1B (Brightness temperatures converted from L1A)
- Level1B Map (Map projected products of L1B subset)
- Level2 (Geophysical parameters retrieved from L1B product)
- Level2 Map (Map projected products of L2 subset)
- Level3 (Daily and monthly global average of L1B and L2 products)

Product Level

There are several levels of AMSR/AMSR-E standard products.

Level 1A	Engineering values from the instrument. For AMSR/AMSR-E, they correspond to digital numbers (DN) converted from instrument output voltages. Other necessary information for higher-level processing, including satellite attitudes and the instrument condition, is also included. Data are not map-projected, but stored in the swath format.
Level 1B	Fundamental physical values observed by the instrument. For AMSR/AMSR-E, they correspond to brightness temperatures. Data location and quality information are also included. Data are not map-projected, but stored in the swath format.
Level 2	Geophysical parameters estimated by retrieval algorithms. Data location and quality information are also included. Data are not map-projected, but stored in the swath format.
Level 3	Temporal and spatial averaged values are projected onto global grids. For AMSR/AMSR-E, daily and monthly global grids are generated for brightness temperatures and geophysical parameters.

Map-projected products are available for level 1B and 2.

Near real-time products are distributed to specific operational institutes such as the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Japan Fisheries Information Service Center. They are utilized for practical purposes such as weather forecasting or fishery predictions.

Geophysical products

The following geophysical parameters are produced as level 2 and 3 standard products. Research products will be upgraded to standard products after the algorithm is modified and validated.

Standard Products

Geophysical parameter	Region	Dynamic range	Target accuracy
Integrated Water Vapor (Total Precipitable Water)	Global Ocean ¹⁾	0-70kg/m2	3.5kg/m2	Columnar value
Integrated Cloud Liquid Water	Global Ocean ¹⁾	0-1.0 kg/m2	0.05kg/m2	Columnar value
Precipitation	Global Ocean ²⁾	0-20 mm/h	10%	Surface rainfall rate and accumulated rainfall amount
Sea Surface Wind Speed	Global Ocean ¹⁾	0-30 m/s	1.5 m/s
Sea Surface Temperature	Global Ocean ¹⁾	-2 - 35 deg.C	0.5 deg. C	Available through cloud
Sea Ice Concentration	Both polar-regions and Sea of Okhotsk	0-100 %	10 %
Snow Water Equivalent	Land area except forest region	T.B.D.	20% or 10mm (water equivalent), 20% or 5cm (depth)
Soil Moistnre (AMSR-E only)	Land area except ice sheet and dense forest	T.B.D.	T.B.D.

¹⁾ Except sea- ice and precipitation area.²⁾Except sea- ice area.

Caveats for the standard products

AMSR Level1 Version 1.0	AMSR-E Level1 Version 1.0
Brightness temperature	Brightness temperature

AMSR Level2 Version 1.0	AMSR-E Level2 Version 2.0
Water Vapor Sea Surface Temperature Sea Surface Wind Precipitation Cloud Liquid Water Sea Ice Concentration Cloud Liquid Water	Precipitation Sea Surface Wind Sea Surface Temperature Cloud Liquid Water Integrated Water Vapor Sea Ice Concentration Snow Depth Soil Moisture
	AMSR-E Level2 Version 1.0
	Water Vapor Precipitation Sea Surface Wind Sea Surface Temperature Sea Ice Concentration

Research Products

Soil Moisture(AMSR only) / Bare soil and grassland

2. Retrieval Algorithms

Retrieval algorithms for AMSR standard products have been evaluated and selected through an algorithm inter-comparison process by the AMSR/AMSR-E Sensor Team. The inter-comparison procedure is mainly based on the comparison between in-situ or aircraft data and retrieved geophysical parameters from brightness temperatures of existing space-borne sensors such as the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I). Final selection of the geophysical parameters that are retrieved from new channels, will be made during the validation phase using real brightness temperatures from AMSR. The inter-comparison will be carried on during the operational phase in order to improve the algorithm performance.

The principal investigator for each algorithm is as follows.

Algorithms for AMSR and AMSR-E

	Geophysical products	Standard Algorithm	Research Algorithm
Standard Product	Integrated water vapor	Takeuchi	-
	Integrated cloud liquid water	Wentz	-
	Precipitation	Liu	Petty
	Sea surface wind speed	Shibata	-
	Sea surface temperature	Shibata	Wentz
	Sea ice concentration	Comiso	-
	Snow depth	Chang	Koike
	Soil moisture (AMSR-E only)	Koike	Njoku, Jackson, Paloscia
Research Product	Soil moisture (AMSR only)	-	Njoku, Jackson, Paloscia, Koike

Algorithm Description(PDF: 1.5MB)

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