Authors
Molly A Hardman (NSIDC), Mary J Brodzik (NSIDC), Joan M Ramage ()

Abstract

The Calibrated, Enhanced-Resolution Brightness Temperature (CETB) Earth System Data Record (ESDR) serves the cryospheric research community as a long-term data record to derive multiple geophysical parameters, including snow water equivalent. In 2024, the National Snow and Ice Data Center DAAC began a major reprocessing of the historical CETB record as CETBv2. Using improved recalibrated input data records, the satellite passive microwave data record is a critical component of cryospheric remote sensing, providing twice-daily, all-weather, near-global observations from multiple sensors since 1978. In addition to the complete set of SSM/I-SSMIS instruments, CETBv2 data include AMSR-E and AMSR2 measurements, with ongoing AMSR2 observations and current operational SSMIS data available in near real-time (<1 day from acquisition). Images are produced at enhanced spatial resolutions up to 3 km (a 30-60% improvement over conventional gridding techniques) using the radiometer version of Scatterometer Image Reconstruction (rSIR). The CETBv2 data are improving geophysical algorithms where brightness temperature gradients are large over short distances, including snow- and ice-covered areas in complex terrain, in transition zones from forested to open areas, along land-water coastline boundaries and in regions of small lakes typical in boreal regions. We describe the CETBv2 reprocessing effort, including a newly-reprocessed derived product of historical and near real-time daily snow water equivalent images for the Northern Hemisphere. We demonstrate improvement in SWE estimates provided by the enhanced-resolution images over traditional gridded methods at coarser resolutions of 25 km.