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Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC)

Vertical Total Electron Content Map from 2015-05-30 09:50 (DGFI-TUM)

Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) is provided along-track for all satellite altimeter missions with dual-frequency altimeters.They are derived from the difference of the measurements of the two frequencies and converted from metric ionospheric corrections to electrons per square-meter directly beneath the satellite (given in TECU). In order to reduce measurement noise, a 20 sec median filter is applied for smoothing the data along the profiles.

Available Dataset(s)

Available version(s) of the product "Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC)" in OpenADB.

Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) Version 06 (derived from smoothed dual-frequency measurements)

Mission Dataset Freq. Cycles Dates Envisat SGDR v3.0 1 Hz 006 - 065 2002-05-14 - 2008-01-07 Jason-1 SGDR-E 1 Hz 001 - 256 2002-01-15 - 2008-12-27 Jason-1 (Extended Mission) SGDR-E 1 Hz 262 - 374 2009-02-10 - 2012-03-03 Jason-1 (Geodetic Mission) SGDR-E 1 Hz 500 - 537 2012-05-07 - 2013-06-21 Jason-2 SGDR-D 1 Hz 000 - 303 2008-07-04 - 2016-10-02 Jason-2 (Extended Mission) SGDR-D 1 Hz 305 - 320 2016-10-13 - 2017-03-15 Jason-2 (Geodetic Mission, Phase 1) SGDR-D 1 Hz 001 - 023 2017-07-11 - 2018-07-18 Jason-2 (Geodetic Mission, Phase 2) SGDR-D 1 Hz 001 - 027 2018-07-25 - 2019-10-01 Jason-3 SGDR-F 1 Hz 000 - 222 2016-02-12 - 2022-02-26 Sentinel-3A (SAR) SGDR/NTC 1 Hz 012 - 080 2016-12-24 - 2022-01-13 Sentinel-3B (SAR) SGDR/NTC 1 Hz 019 - 063 2018-11-23 - 2022-03-11 Topex GDR 1 Hz 001 - 365 1992-09-25 - 2002-08-15 Topex (Extended Mission) GDR 1 Hz 368 - 481 2002-09-16 - 2005-10-08

The VTEC data are distributed here in the hope that they will be useful, but DGFI-TUM provides these data “as is” without warranty, expressed or implied, as to the use or appropriateness of the VTEC data, and there are no warranties of merchantability or fitness of these data for a particular purpose or use.

Data Format

Available version(s) of the product "Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC)" in OpenADB.

Parameter	Description
glon	Longitude of Satellite Footprint
glat	Latitude of Satellite Footprint
gmlat	Geomagnetic Latitude
tloc	Local Time
ionos	Ionospheric Correction
vtec	Vertical Total Electron Content
oflags	Orbit Status and Quality Flags
iflags	Instrument Status and Quality Flags

The data will be provided in NetCDF. More details on the data are available here.

How to cite this dataset

When using this data please cite: "The VTEC data were produced by DGFI-TUM and distributed via OpenADB (http://www.openadb.dgfi.tum.de). More details on the product is available in (Dettmering et al, 2011)."