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Description

MERIS (Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) is a programmable, medium-spectral resolution, imaging spectrometer operating in the solar reflective spectral range. Fifteen spectral bands can be selected by ground command. The instrument scans the Earth's surface by the so called 'push-broom' method. Linear CCD arrays provide spatial sampling in the across-track direction, while the satellite's motion provides scanning in the along-track direction. MERIS is designed so that it can acquire data over the Earth whenever illumination conditions are suitable. The instrument's 68.5-degree field-of-view around nadir covers a swath width of 1150 km. This wide field of view is shared between five identical optical modules arranged in a fan shape configuration.

Version Description

Reprocessing of Ocean Color (OC) Datasets

Product Summary

Platforms
ENVISAT
Instruments
MERIS
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Geographic Region
GLOBAL OCEAN
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2002-03-21 to 2012-05-09
Data Partner
Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG) ,
Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC), Global Change Data Center, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/GCDC/OB.DAAC)
Concept ID
C3281778928-OB_CLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
103312
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Reflectance ,
Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness ,
Angstrom Exponent

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group. (2025). ENVISAT MERIS Level-3 Global Mapped Remote-Sensing Reflectance (RRS) Data, version 2022.0 [Data set]. NASA Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ENVISAT/MERIS/RR/L3M/RRS/2022.0 Date Accessed: 2025-12-14

Documents

Variables

Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.

The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
angstrom Aerosol Angstrom exponent, 443 to 865 nm N/A int16 -32767 -30000 to 5000 9.9999997473788E-5
aot_865 Aerosol optical thickness at 865 nm N/A int16 -32767 0 to 30000 9.9999997473788E-5
lat Latitude degrees_north float32 -999 -90 to 90 N/A
lon Longitude degrees_east float32 -999 -180 to 180 N/A
palette palette N/A uint8 N/A N/A N/A
Rrs_413 Remote sensing reflectance at 413 nm sr^-1 int16 -32767 -30000 to 25000 1.9999999949505E-6
Rrs_443 Remote sensing reflectance at 443 nm sr^-1 int16 -32767 -30000 to 25000 1.9999999949505E-6
Rrs_490 Remote sensing reflectance at 490 nm sr^-1 int16 -32767 -30000 to 25000 1.9999999949505E-6
Rrs_510 Remote sensing reflectance at 510 nm sr^-1 int16 -32767 -30000 to 25000 1.9999999949505E-6
Rrs_560 Remote sensing reflectance at 560 nm sr^-1 int16 -32767 -30000 to 25000 1.9999999949505E-6
Rrs_620 Remote sensing reflectance at 620 nm sr^-1 int16 -32767 -30000 to 25000 1.9999999949505E-6
Rrs_665 Remote sensing reflectance at 665 nm sr^-1 int16 -32767 -30000 to 25000 1.9999999949505E-6
Rrs_681 Remote sensing reflectance at 681 nm sr^-1 int16 -32767 -30000 to 25000 1.9999999949505E-6
Rrs_709 Remote sensing reflectance at 709 nm sr^-1 int16 -32767 -30000 to 25000 1.9999999949505E-6
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