Sentinel-6 | PO.DAAC / JPL / NASA

Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich Jason-CS (Sentinel-6A)Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich Jason-CS (Sentinel-6A) AboutMission ObjectivesThe Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich radar altimeter mission is part of the Copernicus Programme, with the objective of providing high-precision measurements of global sea-level in the 2020–2030 time-frame (mission launched on November 21, 2020). A secondary objective is to collect high resolution vertical profiles of temperature, using the GNSS Radio-Occultation sounding technique, to assess temperature changes in the troposphere and stratosphere and to support Numerical Weather Prediction.DatasetsThe table below summarizes the Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS datasets.

Dataset Name

Processing Level

Format

Description

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L3 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NRT Significant Wave Height

netCDF4

Provides L3 high resolution (HR) near real time (NRT; 3-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It includes global 1-Hz filtered along-track significant wave height over water based on the L2P NRT significant wave height. The S6A NRT product is analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L3 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) STC Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L3 high resolution (HR) short time critical (STC; 36-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, which includes geophysical sea-state parameters that have been spatially and/or temporally resampled or corrected, including potential averaging over multiple orbits. The S6A STC product is analogous to the Jason-3 IGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L3 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NTC Ocean Surface Topography (Unfiltered)

netCDF4

Provides L3 high resolution (HR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, which includes the unfiltered geophysical sea-state parameters that have been spatially and/or temporally resampled or corrected, including potential averaging over multiple orbits. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2P P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NRT Ocean Surface Topography

L2P

netCDF4

Provides L2P high resolution (HR) near real time (NRT; 3-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, and contains L2-equivalent geophysical sea-state data at a slightly different latency than the other L2 NRT products. The sea-state data were derived from L1B altimetry, and include range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. Environmental and geophysical corrections, significant wave height, and wind-speed information are supplied by the AMR-C. The S6A NRT product is analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2P P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) STC Ocean Surface Topography

L2P

netCDF4

Provides L2P high resolution (HR) short time critical (STC; 36-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, and contains L2-equivalent geophysical sea-state data at a slightly different latency than the other L2 NRT products. The sea-state data were derived from L1B altimetry, and include range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. Environmental and geophysical corrections, significant wave height, and wind-speed information are supplied by the AMR-C. The S6A STC product is analogous to the Jason-3 IGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2P P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NTC Ocean Surface Topography

L2P

netCDF4

Provides L2P high resolution (HR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, and contains L2-equivalent geophysical sea-state data at a slightly different latency than the other L2 NRT products. The sea-state data were derived from L1B altimetry, and include range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. Environmental and geophysical corrections, significant wave height, and wind-speed information are supplied by the AMR-C. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2P P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NRT Significant Wave Height and Aux

L2P

netCDF4

Provides L2P high resolution (HR) near real time (NRT; 3-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It includes global 1-Hz along-track significant wave height and validity flags over water based on L2 NRT altimetry. The S6A NRT product is analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NRT Reduced Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L2 high resolution (HR) near real time (NRT; 3-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This release is reduced to exclude the 20 Hz observations that are included in the standard product. The S6A NRT product is analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) STC Reduced Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L2 high resolution (HR) short time critical (STC; 36-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This release is reduced to exclude the 20 Hz observations that are included in the standard product. The S6A STC product is analogous to the Jason-3 IGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NTC Reduced Ocean Surface Topography (Unvalidated)

netCDF4

Provides L2 high resolution (HR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This release is reduced to exclude the 20 Hz observations that are included in the standard product. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NTC Reduced Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NRT Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L2 high resolution (HR) near real time (NRT; 3-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz and 20 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This standard product release provides the geophysical parameters at both 1 and 20 Hz. The S6A NRT product is analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) STC Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L2 high resolution (HR) short time critical (STC; 36-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz and 20 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This standard product release provides the geophysical parameters at both 1 and 20 Hz. The S6A STC product is analogous to the Jason-3 IGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NTC Ocean Surface Topography (Unvalidated)

netCDF4

Provides L2 high resolution (HR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz and 20 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This standard product release provides the geophysical parameters at both 1 and 20 Hz. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NTC Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L2 high resolution (HR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz and 20 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This standard product release provides the geophysical parameters at both 1 and 20 Hz. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) NRT Reduced Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L2 low resolution (LR) near real time (NRT; 3-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This release is reduced to exclude the 20 Hz observations that are included in the standard product. The S6A NRT product is analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) STC Reduced Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L2 low resolution (LR) short time critical (STC; 36-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This release is reduced to exclude the 20 Hz observations that are included in the standard product. The S6A STC product is analogous to the Jason-3 IGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) NTC Reduced Ocean Surface Topography (Unvalidated)

netCDF4

Provides L2 low resolution (LR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This release is reduced to exclude the 20 Hz observations that are included in the standard product. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) NTC Reduced Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) NRT Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L2 low resolution (LR) near real time (NRT; 3-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz and 20 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This standard product release provides the geophysical parameters at both 1 and 20 Hz. The S6A NRT product is analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) STC Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L2 low resolution (LR) short time critical (STC; 36-hour latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz and 20 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This standard product release provides the geophysical parameters at both 1 and 20 Hz. The S6A STC product is analogous to the Jason-3 IGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) NTC Ocean Surface Topography (Unvalidated)

netCDF4

Provides L2 low resolution (LR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz and 20 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This standard product release provides the geophysical parameters at both 1 and 20 Hz. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) NTC Ocean Surface Topography

netCDF4

Provides L2 low resolution (LR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), along with 1 Hz and 20 Hz Ku-band measurements processed from L1B altimetry including the range, orbital altitude, time, and water vapour. It also includes altimetry corrections, significant wave height and wind-speed from the AMR-C. This standard product release provides the geophysical parameters at both 1 and 20 Hz. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) NRT Geophysical Parameters

netCDF4

Provides L2 near real time (NRT; 3-hour latency) geophysical information from the Advanced Microwave Radiometer on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft including surface type, wind speed, water vapor, brightness temperature, sigma0, wet troposphere, and associated quality flags. The data are interpolated to intervals that correspond to altimetry measurements from the Poseidon-4 SAR to supply the geophysical and environmental corrections for altimetry. The S6A NRT product is analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) STC Geophysical Parameters

netCDF4

Provides L2 short time critical (STC; 36-hour latency) geophysical information from the Advanced Microwave Radiometer on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft including surface type, wind speed, water vapor, brightness temperature, sigma0, wet troposphere, and associated quality flags. The data are interpolated to intervals that correspond to altimetry measurements from the Poseidon-4 SAR to supply the geophysical and environmental corrections for altimetry. The S6A STC product is analogous to the Jason-3 IGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) NTC Geophysical Parameters (Unvalidated)

netCDF4

Provides L2 non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) geophysical information from the Advanced Microwave Radiometer on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft including surface type, wind speed, water vapor, brightness temperature, sigma0, wet troposphere, and associated quality flags. The data are interpolated to intervals that correspond to altimetry measurements from the Poseidon-4 SAR to supply the geophysical and environmental corrections for altimetry. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) NTC Geophysical Parameters

netCDF4

Provides L2 non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) validated geophysical information from the Advanced Microwave Radiometer on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft including surface type, wind speed, water vapor, brightness temperature, sigma0, wet troposphere, and associated quality flags. The data are interpolated to intervals that correspond to altimetry measurements from the Poseidon-4 SAR to supply the geophysical and environmental corrections for altimetry. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) Static Calibration

netCDF4

Provides L2 static calibration (nominal and redundant) for the Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft. The data are not delivered on fixed schedule, and are not available for public use.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L2 Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) Static Surface Type Global Map

netCDF4

Provides L2 static surface type global map (nominal and redundant) for the Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L1B GNSS-RO-POD Tracking Data Hourly

L1B

RINEX

Provides L1B GNSS-RO-POD tracking data for the Sentinel-6A radar altimetry mission.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L1B GNSS-POD Tracking Data Daily

L1B

RINEX

Provides L1B daily GNSS-POD tracking data for the Sentinel-6A radar altimetry mission.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L1B GNSS-POD Tracking Data Hourly

L1B

RINEX

Provides L1B hourly GNSS-POD tracking data for the Sentinel-6A radar altimetry mission.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L1B P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) STC Geolocated Waveforms

L1B

netCDF4

Provides L1B high resolution (HR) short time critical (STC; 36-hour latency) altimetry data from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft which include the geolocated, fully SAR processed and calibrated multi-looked HR Ku-band waveforms. The S6A STC product is analogous to the Jason-3 IGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L1B P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NTC Geolocated Waveforms

L1B

netCDF4

Provides L1B high resolution (HR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry data from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft which include the geolocated, fully SAR processed and calibrated multi-looked HR Ku-band waveforms. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L1B P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) STC Geolocated Waveforms

L1B

netCDF4

Provides L1B low resolution (LR) short time critical (STC; 36-hour latency) altimetry data from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft which include the geolocated, fully-calibrated pulse-limited LR power echoes. The S6A STC product is analogous to the Jason-3 IGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L1B P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) NTC Geolocated Waveforms

L1B

netCDF4

Provides L1B low resolution (LR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry data from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft which include the geolocated, fully-calibrated pulse-limited LR power echoes. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L1A P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NRT Intermediate Outputs with Instrument Calibrations

L1A

netCDF4

Provides L1A high resolution (HR) short time critical (NRT; 3-hour latency) altimetry intermediate outputs from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, which are geo-located bursts of Ku-band echoes (at ~140 Hz) with all instrument calibrations applied and full rate complex waveforms for delay/Doppler or HR processing. The S6A NRT product is analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L1A P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) STC Intermediate Outputs with Instrument Calibrations

L1A

netCDF4

Provides L1A high resolution (HR) short time critical (STC; 36-hour latency) altimetry intermediate outputs from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, which are geo-located bursts of Ku-band echoes (at ~140 Hz) with all instrument calibrations applied and full rate complex waveforms for delay/Doppler or HR processing. The S6A STC product is analogous to the Jason-3 IGDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L1A P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) NTC Intermediate Outputs with Instrument Calibrations

L1A

netCDF4

Provides L1A high resolution (HR) non-time critical (NTC; 60-day latency) altimetry intermediate outputs from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, which are geo-located bursts of Ku-band echoes (at ~140 Hz) with all instrument calibrations applied and full rate complex waveforms for delay/Doppler or HR processing. The S6A NTC product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR product.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 P4 Altimeter Acquisition Phase Data

binary

Provides L0 altimetry data for monitoring the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter's acquisition phase. The P4 altimeter is on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, and data are reported for each orbit.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 P4 Altimeter Calibration Phase Data

binary

Provides L0 altimetry data to support the calibration phase for the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter. The P4 altimeter is on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, and data are reported for each orbit.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 P4 Altimeter High Resolution (HR) Altimetry

binary

Provides L0 observational altimetry data from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter's high resolution processor (RAW and RMC), and data are reported for each orbit. The P4 altimeter is on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 P4 Altimeter Low Resolution (LR) Altimetry

binary

Provides L0 observational altimetry data from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter's Low Resolution Mode (LRM) processor, and the data are reported for each orbit. The Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter is on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 P4 Altimeter Performance Report

binary

Provides L0 altimetry performance report for the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C)

binary

Provides L0 radiometer data from the Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, including inputs to L2 radiometer products like geophysical and environmental altimetry corrections, and geophysical parameters like surface type, wind speed, water vapor, brightness temperature, sigma0, wet troposphere, and associated quality flags.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) Dynamic Calibration

netCDF4

Provides L0 dynamic calibration (nominal and redundant) for the Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft, including low-level inputs to environmental and geophysical corrections for altimetry.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 DORIS Doppler Aux

binary

Provides L0 DORIS doppler, datation, auxiliary, and attitude telemetry source packets for the Sentinel-6A radar altimetry mission.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 DORIS Navigation

binary

Provides L0 DORIS navigation telemetry packets for the Sentinel-6A radar altimetry mission.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 GNSS-RO

binary

Provides L0 GNSS-RO POD receiver data for Sentinel-6A radar altimetry mission.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 GNSS-POD

binary

Provides L0 GNSS POD receiver data for Sentinel-6A radar altimetry mission.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 GNSS Navigation and Attitude

binary

Provides L0 telemetry from the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich radar altimetry mission. It includes navigation and attitude information from StarTracker and the GNSS-POD unit on board the satellite.

Sentinel-6A MF/Jason-CS L0 Star Tracker

binary

Provides L0 Star Tracker data for the Sentinel-6A radar altimetry mission.

NA: Not Applicable

TBD: To Be Determined

Processing Level

Level-1A (L1A) products contain geo-located bursts of Ku echoes (at ~9 kHz) with all instrument calibrations applied: these are the full rate complex waveforms, which are the starting point for the (SAR) high resolution processing.

Level-1B (L1B) products contain geo-located and fully processed calibrated power echoes. Level-1B SAR products contain fully processed and calibrated complex echoes, arranged in stacks after slant range correction and prior to echo multi-look.

Level-2 (L2) products contain Level-1B products re-tracked and corrected by geophysical effects.

Latency/Timeliness

Near Real Time (NRT) products are delivered within 3 hours of sensing. They provide information on the sea state, e.g. significant wave height and wind speed, and sea surface height.

Short Time Critical (STC) products are delivered within 36 hours of sensing. This enables consolidation of auxiliary data (e.g. preliminary restituted orbit data). The data are suitable for operational oceanography and geophysical studies.

Non Time Critical (NTC) products are delivered within 60 days of sensing. The additional delay allows for further consolidation of auxiliary data (e.g. precise orbit data, radiometer calibration) leading to higher accuracy of SSH products.

Data Distribution FormatPO.DAAC distributes S6A datasets in their native file formats. They are accessible through Earthdata Search and from their individual dataset landing pages, which are linked below in the Data section. The same data are distributed by EUMETSAT in a slightly different form which is described briefly in the paragraph below.Data are delivered to the PO.DAAC in tar packages structured according to the SAFE (Standard Archive Format for Europe¹) specification. At the PO.DAAC, the SAFE packages are untarred upon delivery and reconfigured for distribution in compliance with NASA guidelines and system requirements. The data files are not changed during this process -- they are simply unpacked and organized so users can obtain the data files by collection through tools and services maintained by the PO.DAAC and NASA Earthdata. Each component of the original SAFE package is accessible through the Earthdata common metadata repository and data discovery interfaces (e.g. Earthdata Search, PO.DAAC website). Ancillary data files (such as manifest files) can be accessed via links contained in the metadata for the corresponding data file.1 https://earth.esa.int/SAFE/basicinfo.htmlData AccessResources for accessing Sentinel-6 MF data from PO.DAAC through the Earthdata Cloud archive in Amazon Web Services (AWS):

Scripted Access to PO.DAAC Data in the Cloud

Video Tutorial - this video tutorial and accompanying data subscriber script provide a user guide on scripted access to PO.DAAC data in the Earthdata Cloud. Users are free to use it as a building block, and modify it for use with Sentinel-6 MF data.
Data subscriber - example script on how to download data given a PO.DAAC collection short name.

Additional data tutorials and examples can be found on the PO.DAAC Github.

PO.DAAC Cloud Data Pages - new centralized location that is a key source for all information about cloud data access and resources, including Sentinel-6 MF. More resources are continuously being added.

If you have any issues accessing the data, please contact the PO.DAAC through the PO.DAAC Sentinel-6 forum. The forum has been pre-populated with some common questions and answers.Product StatusAnomaliesAnomalies identified by the Sentinel-6 Calibration and Validation team are listed in the table below by cycle. All data granules from cycles with known anomalies are considered "unvalidated". Each L2 NTC product from Sentinel-6 has a corresponding "unvalidated" dataset from which such granules may be obtained.

Affected Cycle

Anomaly Details

Cycle 020

2021-05-25 to 2021-06-03

Date Reported: 2022-10-13

Anomaly in passes 182 and 183 of LR and HR products for version F06 products. The mispointing information from the platform is incorrect and causes large errors in reported sea surface height. This results in errors in C-band parameters, the ionosphere correction, the estimate the relative position of the altimeter antenna with respect to the satellite center of mass, the ranges from Ku and C, and the sea surface height anomaly. Note: products for cycle 20 can be downloaded from the “unvalidated” dataset. Aside from pass 182 and 183, others passes are safe to use.

Processing BaselinesJuly 2022 -- Processing standard updated from F06 to F07NTC products were transitioned to processing baseline F07 at cycle 65. Processing baseline F06 is used for cycle 04 through cycle 65, pass 20. Processing baseline F07 is used from cycle 65, pass 21 onward. The new F07 baseline adds a number of further improvements:

The availability of High Resolution Microwave Radiometer (HRMR) data in all radiometer products, extending the wet path delay measurements into coastal areas, with a performance goal of 1.0 cm accuracy within 5-50 km from the coast.

The usage of ECHO CAL as main source of CAL1, thus removing any impacts to SSHA retrievals from variations of internal path delay around the orbit.

The introduction of a forecasted dynamic atmospheric corrections (MOGF) in L2 NRT production, improving the NRT SSHA accuracy and crossovers differences.

August 2022 -- Initial NTC data released under F06 processing standard

https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/announcements/2022-08-01-Sentinel-6-Michael-Freilich-Reprocessing-Updates-Version2-Completed

https://www-cdn.eumetsat.int/files/2022-07/S6A_F06_Reprocessing_Calval_Assesment_v1_final.pdf

Instruments

Poseidon-4 – Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) dual frequency altimeter that measures in the Ku (13.575 GHz) and C (5.3 GHz). It measures altimeter range, sigma0, significant wave height and ionospheric correction. It will operate in interleaved mode (simultanious Low Resolution Mode (LRM) and SAR measurements).
DORIS – Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositiong by Satellite is a Precise Orbit Determination (POD) system. It receives at the 401.25 MHz and 2036.25 MHz frequencies. It is used for the all weather global tracking and calculates the orbit ephemeris.
AMR – Advance Microwave Radiometer measures the 18.7 GHz, 23.8 GHz and 34.0 GHz sea surface microwave brightness temperatures. The 18.7 GHz channel provides the wind induced effects in the sea surface background emissions correction. The 23.8 GHz channel measures water vapor. The 34.0 GHz channel measures the cloud liquid water to be corrected. All together the three frequencies provide the error in the satellite range measurement caused by pulse delay due to water vapor.
LRA – Laser Retroreflector Array supports the calibration and validation for the POD.
GPSP – GPS Payload receiver. It provides supplementary position data to support the POD function and to improve gravity field models.
CARMEN-2 Radiation Detectors – CNES instrument that measures high energy particles that could disrupt the DORIS oscillator and create drifts.
LPT – Light Particle Telescope. Provided by JAXA, measures radiation to complement that measured by DORIS.
T2L2 – Time Transfer by Laser Link. CNES instrument for precise time transfer used to monitor the clock in DORIS.

Mission Characteristics

Semi-major axis

7,714.43 km

Eccentricity

0.000095

Inclination

66.04°

Argument of periapsis

90.0°

Inertial longitude of the ascending node

116.56°

Mean anomaly

253.13°

Reference altitude

1,336 km

Nodal period

6,745.72 sec

Repeat period

9.9156 days

Number of revolutions within a cycle

127

Number of passes within a cycle

254

Equatorial cross track separation

315 km

Ground track control band

+1 km

Acute angle at Equator crossings

39.5°

Longitude of Equator crossing of pass 1, cycles 1-365

99.9249°

Longitude of Equator crossing of pass 1, cycles 369-onward

98.5°

Inertial nodal rate

-2.08°/day

Orbital speed

7.2 km/s

Ground track speed

5.8 km/s

NASA Sentinel-6 Mission Page

JPL Sea Level

AVISO

CNES

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