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ESA promotes radio frequency monitoring as Spire becomes TPM
The global company Spire, which specialises in using continuous global monitoring to track aircraft, ships and weather patterns using a large constellation of CubeSats, is now an ESA Third Party Mission.
Spire live and historical data
The data collected by Spire from its 100 satellites launched into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) has a diverse range of applications, from analysis of global trade patterns and commodity flows to aircraft routing to weather forecasting. The data also provides interesting research opportunities on topics as varied as ocean currents and GNSS-based planetary boundary layer height. The following products can be requested: GNSS Polarimetric Radio Occultation (STRATOS) Novel Polarimetric Radio Occultation (PRO) measurements collected by three Spire satellites are available over 15 May 2023 to 30 November 2023. PRO differ from regular RO (described below) in that the H and V polarizations of the signal are available, as opposed to only Right-Handed Circularly Polarized (RHCP) signals in regular RO. The differential phase shift between H and V correlates with the presence of hydrometeors (ice crystals, rain, snow, etc.). When combined, the H and V information provides the same information on atmospheric thermodynamic properties as RO: temperature, humidity, and pressure, based on the signal’s bending angle. Various levels of the products are provided. GNSS Reflectometry (STRATOS) GNSS Reflectometry (GNSS-R) is a technique to measure Earth’s surface properties using reflections of GNSS signals in the form of a bistatic radar. Spire collects two types of GNSS-R data: Near-Nadir incidence LHCP reflections collected by the Spire GNSS-R satellites, and Grazing-Angle GNSS-R (i.e., low elevation angle) RHCP reflections collected by the Spire GNSS-RO satellites. The Near-Nadir GNSS-R collects DDM (Delay Doppler Map) reflectivity measurements. These are used to compute ocean wind / wave conditions and soil moisture over land. The Grazing-Angle GNSS-R collects 50 Hz reflectivity and additionally carrier phase observations. These are used for altimetry and characterization of smooth surfaces (such as ice and inland water). Derived Level 1 and Level 2 products are available, as well as some special Level 0 raw intermediate frequency (IF) data. Historical grazing angle GNSS-R data are available from May 2019 to the present, while near-nadir GNSS-R data are available from December 2020 to the present. Name Temporal coverage Spatial coverage Description Data format and content Application Polarimetric Radio Occultation (PRO) measurements 15 May 2023 to 30 November 2023 Global PRO measurements observe the properties of GNSS signals as they pass through by Earth's atmosphere, similar to regular RO measurements. The polarization state of the signals is recorded separately for H and V polarizations to provide information on the anisotropy of hydrometeors along the propagation path leoOrb.sp3. This file contains the estimated position, velocity and receiver clock error of a given Spire satellite after processing of the POD observation file proObs. Level 0 - Raw open loop carrier phase measurements at 50 Hz sampling for both linear polarization components (horizontal and vertical) of the occulted GNSS signal. h(v)(c)atmPhs. Level 1B - Atmospheric excess phase delay computed for each individual linear polarization component (hatmPhs, vatmPhs) and for the combined (“H” + “V”) signal (catmPhs). Also contains values for signal-to-noise ratio, transmitter and receiver positions and open loop model information. polPhs. Level 1C - Combines the information from the hatmPhs and vatmPhs files while removing phase continuities due to phase wrapping and navigation bit modulation. patmPrf. Level 2 - Bending angle, dry refractivity, and dry temperature as a function of mean sea level altitude and impact parameter derived from the “combined” excess phase delay (catmPhs) PRO measurements add a sensitivity to ice and precipitation content alongside the traditional RO measurements of the atmospheric temperature, pressure, and water vapor. Near-Nadir GNSS Reflectometry (NN GNSS-R) measurements 25 January-2024 to 24 July 2024 Global Tracks of surface reflections as observed by the near-nadir pointing GNSS-R antennas, based on Delay Doppler Maps (DDMs). gbrRCS.nc. Level 1B - Along-track calibrated bistatic radar cross-sections measured by Spire conventional GNSS-R satellites. gbrNRCS.nc. Level 1B - Along-track calibrated bistatic and normalized radar cross-sections measured by Spire conventional GNSS-R satellites. gbrSSM.nc. Level 2 - Along-track SNR, reflectivity, and retrievals of soil moisture (and associated uncertainties) and probability of frozen ground. gbrOcn.nc. Level 2 - Along-track retrievals of mean square slope (MSS) of the sea surface, wind speed, sigma0, and associated uncertainties. NN GNSS-R measurements are used to measure ocean surface winds and characterize land surfaces for applications such as soil moisture, freeze/thaw monitoring, flooding detection, inland water body delineation, sea ice classification, etc. Grazing angle GNSS Reflectometry (GA GNSS-R) measurements 25 January 2024 to 24 July 2024 Global Tracks of surface reflections as observed by the limb-facing RO antennas, based on open-loop tracking outputs: 50 Hz collections of accumulated I/Q observations grzRfl.nc. Level 1B - Along-track SNR, reflectivity, phase delay (with respect to an open loop model) and low-level observables and bistatic radar geometries such as receiver, specular reflection, and the transmitter locations. grzIce.nc. Level 2 - Along-track water vs sea ice classification, along with sea ice type classification. grzAlt.nc. Level 2 - Along-track phase-delay, ionosphere-corrected altimetry, tropospheric delay, and ancillary models (mean sea surface, tides). GA GNSS-R measurements are used to 1) characterize land surfaces for applications such as sea ice classification, freeze/thaw monitoring, inland water body detection and delineation, etc., and 2) measure relative altimetry with dm-level precision for inland water bodies, river slopes, sea ice freeboard, etc., but also water vapor characterization from delay based on tropospheric delays. Additionally, the following products (better detailed in the ToA) can be requested but the acceptance is not guaranteed and shall be evaluated on a case-by-case basis: Other STRATOS measurements: profiles of the Earth’s atmosphere and ionosphere, from December 2018 ADS-B Data Stream: monthly subscription to global ADS-B satellite data, available from December 2018 AIS messages: AIS messages observed from Spire satellites (S-AIS) and terrestrial from partner sensor stations (T-AIS), monthly subscription available from June 2016 The products are available as part of the Spire provision with worldwide coverage. All details about the data provision, data access conditions and quota assignment procedure are described in the Terms of Applicability.
Three new Third Party Missions under evaluation
ICEYE, PlanetScope and Spire under evaluation. Interested users can investigate suitability of the data for scientific and R&D activities.
Spire
Spire Global's constellation of Lemur nanosatellites offer satellite-based maritime, aviation and weather tracking.