Global Change Observation Mission
1st - Water "SHIZUKU" (GCOM-W1)
1. IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION
Name

Global Change Observation Mission 1st - Water "SHIZUKU" (GCOM-W1)

Metadata
Identifier

GCOM_W120230727082527-en

2. CONTACT
2.1 CONTACT on DATASETNameJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency GCOM-W1 Data Providing Service Help Desk

E-mailz-gw1help@jaxa.jp

2.2 CONTACT on PROJECT

3. DOCUMENT AUTHOR
Name

Satoko MiuraOrganization

JAXA/Mission Operations System Office (MOSS)

4. DATASET CREATOR
Name

JAXA

5. DATE OF THIS DOCUMENT
2023-07-27

6. DATE OF DATASET
�creation : 2013-05-30

7. DATASET OVERVIEW
7.1 Abstract
The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2,) which will be loaded onto the GCOM-W1, isa sensor to observe radiometers, or microwaves emitted naturally from the ground, sea surface
and atmosphere, using six different frequency bands ranging from 7 GHz to 89 GHz. The strength1

of a natural microwave is determined by its characteristics and moisture, including the surface
condition and temperature of the material. Although it depends on the frequency, the microwave isvery weak. AMSR2 will detect such weak microwaves at an altitude of 700 kilometers and measure thestrength of them with a very high accuracy. For example, by measuring the strength of a microwave
emitted from the sea surface with the AMSR2, we can understand the water temperature of the sea
surface to an accuracy of 0.5 degrees Celsius.
The antenna of the AMSR2, which receives microwaves from the ground, arc scans the ground surface
at a ratio of one turn every 1.5 seconds and observes an area approximately 1,450 kilometers widein one scan. Using this scanning method, the AMSR2 can observe over 99 percent of the Earth's
area in just 2 days. The diameter of the antenna is about 2 meters, making it the world's largest
observation sensor aboard a satellite. The height of the rotating part is about 2.7 meters and theweight is about 250 kilograms. The AMSR2 can keep rotating such a large and heavy antenna at a speedof one turn per 1.5 seconds for 24 hours a day and more than five years without a minute of rest.

7.2 Topic Category(ISO19139)
�climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere�oceans

7.3 Temporal Extent
Begin Date

2012-05-18

End Date

Under Continuation

7.4 Geographic Bounding Box
Northlatitudebound 90Westlongitudebound -180

Eastboundlongitude

180

South
latitudebound -90

7.5 Grid
Dimension Name

Dimension
Size Resolution Unit
(slice number ofthe dimension)()()

7.6 Geographic Description
7.7 Keywords
7.7.1 Keywords on Dataset

2

Keyword Type

Keyword

KeywordName

thesaurus

theme

Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Humidity, Atmosphere GCMD_science> Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor, Land Surface> Soils > Soil Moisture/Water Content, Atmosphere >Precipitation > Precipitation Amount, Oceans > Ocean
Temperature > Sea Surface Temperature, Cryosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow Water Equivalent

7.7.2 Keywords on Project

7.8 Online Resource
�JAXA GCOM-W1 Data Providing Service : https://gcom-w1.jaxa.jp/auth.html

7.9 Data Environmental Information
7.10 Distribution Information
nameversion

specification

HDF5, NetDF(afterformatconversion),
GeoTIFF(Level3
only, after formatconversion),
TIFF(Level1m
Level2,afterformat conversion)

8. DATA PROCESSING
8.1 Data Processing (1)8.1.1 General Explanation of the data producer's knowledge about thelineage of a dataset
The followings products are available;[Level1 ]Brightness Temperature(L1B, L1R)

[Level2]
Total Precipitable Water
Cloud Liquid Water
Precipitation

3

Sea Surface Temperature
Sea Surface Wind speed
Sea Ice Concentration
Snow Depth
Soil Moisture Content[Level3]
Total Precipitable Water
Cloud Liquid Water
Precipitation
Sea Surface Temperature
Sea Surface Wind speed
Sea Ice Concentration
Snow Depth
Soil Moisture Content
Brightness Temperature

8.1.2 Data Source
Data Source Citation Name

Description of derived parameters and processing
techniques used

9. DATA REMARKS
10. DATA POLICY
10.1 Data Policy by the Data Provider
http://gcom-w1.jaxa.jp/useagreement.html

10.2 Data Policy by the Project

11. LICENSE
12. DATA SOURCE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
12.1 Acknowledge the Data Provider

4

12.2 Acknowledge the Project

13. REFERENCES

5