Harmonising ERS scatterometer data

ESA’s Fundamental Data Records Framework plays a key role in enhancing and standardising data from selected heritage missions. One such effort focuses on harmonising over 40 years of data from satellite scatterometers – radar instruments that measure the backscatter of microwave signals to observe surface roughness. Led by TU Wien in Austria in collaboration with TU Delft in the Netherlands, the FDR4LDYN project is developing a harmonised data record from ESCAT, the C-band scatterometers onboard ESA’s ERS satellites and laying the foundation for future interoperability with data from MetOp’s ASCAT and the upcoming MetOp-SG-B scatterometers –creating a unified, long-term dataset for land monitoring.  

The image here shows the standard deviation of ESCAT intercalibrated sigma nought at 40 degrees, incidence angle for the period 1991–2000.  Such map is in good agreement with similar results from ASCAT, paving the way to build a consistent 40+ years database for land dynamics parameters covering ESCAT, ASCAT and the upcoming MetOp-SG-B scatterometers.