Summary

Description

This data set consists of time-series spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery of the three Cold Land Processes Field Experiment (CLPX) Meso-cell Study Areas (MSAs) (Fraser, Rabbit Ears, and North Park) acquired by the RADARSAT-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Images are derived from C-band (5.3 GHz frequency, 5.66 cm wavelength) HH-polarization Standard Beam data for multiple incidence angles. SAR data were acquired through the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) and post-processed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, for derivation of ancillary data and assembly of the database. The data series consists of 195 individual radar scenes acquired from 17 February to 23 June 2003. Calibrated radar backscatter images are provided in binary format together with header and facility data record information for each image. Note that the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) holds copyrights over all RADARSAT-1 SAR data. NASA/NOAA-approved SAR researchers are can obtain these data directly from ASF, as per agreements between NASA/NOAA and CSA. No commercial use is allowed of the data or any products derived there from. Users of this data must submit a Research Agreement to ASF. The NASA CLPX is a multi-sensor, multi-scale experiment that focuses on extending a local-scale understanding of water fluxes, storage, and transformations to regional and global scales. Within a framework of nested study areas in the central Rocky Mountains of the western United States, ranging from 1-ha to 160,000 km2, intensive ground, airborne, and spaceborne observations are collected. Data collection focuses on two seasons: mid-winter, when conditions are generally frozen and dry, and early spring, a transitional period when both frozen and thawed, dry and wet conditions are widespread.