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ECOSTRESS Tiled Water Use Efficiency Instantaneous L4 Global 70 m v003

Published by LP DAAC;NASA/JPL/ECOSTRESS | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Catalog Last Checked: July 14, 2026 at 10:32 PM | Dataset Last Updated: June 22, 2026
The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) mission measures the temperature of plants to better understand how much water plants need and how they respond to stress. ECOSTRESS is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and collects data globally between 52° N and 52° S latitudes. The ECOSTRESS Tiled Water Use Efficiency Instantaneous Level 4 Global 70 m (ECO_L4T_WUE) Version 3 data product provides Water Use Efficiency (WUE) data generated by dividing the Breathing Earth System Simulator (BESS) Gross Primary Production (GPP) by the Priestley-Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory Soil Moisture (PT-JPL-SM) transpiration to estimate WUE; the ratio of grams of carbon that plants absorb to kilograms of water that plants release. The product provides a BESS GPP estimate that represents the amount of carbon surrounding the plants. This tiled data product uses a modified version of the Military Grid Reference System ([MGRS](https://hls.gsfc.nasa.gov/products-description/tiling-system/)), which divides Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zones into square tiles that are 109.8 km by 109.8 km with a 70 meter (m) spatial resolution. The ECO_L4T_WUE Version 3 data product is provided in Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) format, and each variable is distributed as a separate COG. This product contains four variables including Water Use Efficiency (WUE), Gross Primary Production (GPP), cloud mask, and water mask. Known Issues * Solar Array Obstruction: Some ECOSTRESS scenes may be affected by solar array obstructions from the ISS, potentially impacting data quality in obstructed pixels. The 'FieldOfViewObstruction' metadata field is reliably populated and accurate for all products generated on or after October 2024, following fixes to the Product Generation Executive (PGE) docker configuration and updates to the L1A_RAW_PIX software. Prior to October 2024, the field was not reliably populated; a separate [list of confirmed affected scenes](https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/documents/2249/obst_all_sort.txt) was maintained and is recommended for verifying historical data. * Historical acquisition gaps and anomalies (2018–2023): Irrecoverable data loss occurred due to Mass Storage Unit (MSU) failures, resulting in permanent gaps in the observational record where no ECOSTRESS data was acquired during the following periods: - September 29, 2018 – December 4, 2018 (primary MSU failure) - March 14, 2019 – May 14, 2019 (secondary MSU failure) - February 17, 2020 (instrument in SAFEHOLD mode) - Other early issues, including band 4 striping (February 8–16, 2020), 3-band mode limitations (May 15, 2019–April 28, 2023), and noisy data periods (e.g., May–July 2025), have been mitigated through reprocessing, firmware updates, and instrument recovery. Version 3 products incorporate these improvements where data exists and are unaffected by ongoing issues, but the permanent historical gaps remain, and caution is advised for time-series analyses spanning affected periods. * Geolocation considerations: While geolocation is improved in Version 3 tiled products (fixed MGRS grid), gridded products may reference legacy "GeolocationAccuracyQA" flags. Use "best" and "good" scenes for applications sensitive to precise positioning.

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Complete Metadata
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description The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) mission measures the temperature of plants to better understand how much water plants need and how they respond to stress. ECOSTRESS is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and collects data globally between 52° N and 52° S latitudes. The ECOSTRESS Tiled Water Use Efficiency Instantaneous Level 4 Global 70 m (ECO_L4T_WUE) Version 3 data product provides Water Use Efficiency (WUE) data generated by dividing the Breathing Earth System Simulator (BESS) Gross Primary Production (GPP) by the Priestley-Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory Soil Moisture (PT-JPL-SM) transpiration to estimate WUE; the ratio of grams of carbon that plants absorb to kilograms of water that plants release. The product provides a BESS GPP estimate that represents the amount of carbon surrounding the plants. This tiled data product uses a modified version of the Military Grid Reference System ([MGRS](https://hls.gsfc.nasa.gov/products-description/tiling-system/)), which divides Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zones into square tiles that are 109.8 km by 109.8 km with a 70 meter (m) spatial resolution. The ECO_L4T_WUE Version 3 data product is provided in Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) format, and each variable is distributed as a separate COG. This product contains four variables including Water Use Efficiency (WUE), Gross Primary Production (GPP), cloud mask, and water mask. Known Issues * Solar Array Obstruction: Some ECOSTRESS scenes may be affected by solar array obstructions from the ISS, potentially impacting data quality in obstructed pixels. The 'FieldOfViewObstruction' metadata field is reliably populated and accurate for all products generated on or after October 2024, following fixes to the Product Generation Executive (PGE) docker configuration and updates to the L1A_RAW_PIX software. Prior to October 2024, the field was not reliably populated; a separate [list of confirmed affected scenes](https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/documents/2249/obst_all_sort.txt) was maintained and is recommended for verifying historical data. * Historical acquisition gaps and anomalies (2018–2023): Irrecoverable data loss occurred due to Mass Storage Unit (MSU) failures, resulting in permanent gaps in the observational record where no ECOSTRESS data was acquired during the following periods: - September 29, 2018 – December 4, 2018 (primary MSU failure) - March 14, 2019 – May 14, 2019 (secondary MSU failure) - February 17, 2020 (instrument in SAFEHOLD mode) - Other early issues, including band 4 striping (February 8–16, 2020), 3-band mode limitations (May 15, 2019–April 28, 2023), and noisy data periods (e.g., May–July 2025), have been mitigated through reprocessing, firmware updates, and instrument recovery. Version 3 products incorporate these improvements where data exists and are unaffected by ongoing issues, but the permanent historical gaps remain, and caution is advised for time-series analyses spanning affected periods. * Geolocation considerations: While geolocation is improved in Version 3 tiled products (fixed MGRS grid), gridded products may reference legacy "GeolocationAccuracyQA" flags. Use "best" and "good" scenes for applications sensitive to precise positioning.
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identifier 10.5067/ECOSTRESS/ECO_L4T_WUE.003
keyword 
[
  "earth-science-evapotranspiration-land-surface",
  "earth-science-soils-land-surface-soil-productivity",
  "earth-science-surface-thermal-properties-land-surface-land-surface-temperature"
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license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-06-22
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spatial 
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temporal 2018-07-09/2026-06-15
theme 
[
  "Earth Science"
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title ECOSTRESS Tiled Water Use Efficiency Instantaneous L4 Global 70 m v003

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