Published on 27 Jun 2025 | Erin Hokanson Wagner
The PREFIRE Mission is excited to announce that all PREFIRE data products are available to the public via the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) Distributed Active Archive Center! This includes Level 1 Radiance, retrieved Level 2 products, Level 3 climatologies, and supporting auxiliary products.
Level 2 science data collections include a Cloud Mask, Spectral Flux, Surface Emissivity, and Atmospheric Properties (which provides surface temperatures, vertical temperature and water vapor profiles, and column water vapor). The Level 3 products are 1°x1° gridded, monthly climatologies of Level 2 Surface Emissivity. This product is sorted by surface type to facilitate science analysis and data assimilation.
For certain fields (column water vapor, outgoing longwave radiation, and surface emissivity near 11 and 19 μm), associated GeoTIFF files/renderings are available in the collections with names ending in “COG”. These can be visualized with a variety of software, including QGIS and ArcGIS.
PREFIRE product User Guides and ATBDs can be found on the PREFIRE website or on the ASDC website with the data collections.
This work is supported by NASA.
- PREFIRE First Light Announcement!
- 2024 PREFIRE Science Team Meeting
- Second PREFIRE Satellite Launched!
- Update on second PREFIRE CubeSat launch
- First PREFIRE Satellite Launched!
- Rocket assembly pics and PI radio interview
- Launch update and a new short video!
- NASA's tiny twin polar satellites (first launch soon)
- Pre-launch anticipation of PREFIRE CubeSat science
Recent Posts
The PREFIRE Mission is excited to announce that all PREFIRE data products are now available to the public via the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC)! PREFIRE data collections include Level 1 Radiance, retrieved Level 2 products, Level 3 climatologies, and supporting auxiliary products.
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NASA has publicly released the first look at PREFIRE mission data, also known as the first light announcement! The PREFIRE science team worked with NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio to create a first light video. It showcases some of the fascinating infrared details of the Arctic surface and atmosphere that PREFIRE-SAT2 captured in July 2024. The PREFIRE science team is hard at work analyzing the countless measurements that the twin CubeSats are radioing to the ground every day.
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The 2024 PREFIRE Science Team Meeting was held at the University of Colorado on August 8th and 9th. The PREFIRE team, led by Tristan L'Ecuyer (PI) discussed the status of the PREFIRE CubeSats and instruments, the Science Data Processing System (SDPS), and preliminary data output, as well as the nuances and considerations of this unique dataset. The team also discussed potential validation activities and heard from several external scientists about related projects with the potential for both collaboration and validation.
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Rocket Lab successfully launched the second of two PREFIRE satellites from Mahia, New Zealand at 3:15 pm NZST (3:15 am UTC).
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Rocket Lab has scheduled the second attempt at the #2 (and final) PREFIRE launch for June 5, 2024 at 03:13 am UTC! That is June 04, 2024 at 10:13 pm Central time in North America. Also, here is the official patch of the 49th Rocket Lab launch, PREFIRE and Ice. It depicts the kickstage (3rd stage) of an Electron rocket with a satellite on top, a polar bear on a chunk of polar ice, and a starry sky.
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