ASDC | DSCOVR_EPIC_L1A

DSCOVR Level 1A

Entry Title: DSCOVR EPIC Level 1A Version 4

Entry ID: DSCOVR_EPIC_L1A_4

Radiation Budget

Description

Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) is a 10-channel spectro-radiometer (317 – 780 nm) onboard National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) DSCOVR spacecraft located at the Earth-Sun Lagrange-1 (L-1) point giving EPIC a unique angular perspective that is used in science applications to measure ozone, aerosols, cloud reflectivity, cloud height, vegetation properties, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation estimates at Earth's surface. EPIC provides ten narrow-band spectral images of the entire sunlit face of the Earth using a 2048x2048 pixel Charge Coupled Device (CCD) detector coupled to a 30-cm aperture Cassegrain telescope. EPIC collects radiance data from the Earth and other sources through the Camera/Telescope Assembly. EPIC has a field of view (FOV) of 0.62 degrees, sufficient to image the entire Earth. Because of DSCOVR's tilted (Lissajous) orbit about the L‐1 point, the apparent angular size of the Earth varies from 0.45 to 0.53 degrees within its 6-month orbital period. Depending on the season, a complete set of per-band images is taken every 60 to 100 minutes.

Accompanying instrument metadata and a series of calibrations and corrections are applied to convert the images to Level 1A format properly. The significant corrections are for flat‐fielding and stray light. Flat-fielding is based on measurements with a uniform light source to measure the differences in sensitivity for each of the 4 million pixels. The resulting correction map is applied to the estimated counts from the CCD. Stray light was measured in the laboratory using a series of small-diameter light sources entering the telescope and imaged on the CCD. A similar set of measurements has been performed on orbit using the moon. The illumination of pixels outside the primary diameter of the light source was measured to produce a detailed matrix map of the entire stray light function, and the resulting stray light correction was applied to every image. Other corrections are also used based on laboratory measurements. For wavelengths longer than 550 nm, there are back-to-front interference effects in the partially transparent CCD (etaloning) that must also be removed from measured radiance.

DSCOVR EPIC Level 1A Version 4 collection contains data collected over the Earth not obstructed by the Moon. For data collected during lunar transit events, users should see collection DSCOVR EPIC Level 1A Miscellaneous Version V1. For data collected for the Moon only (without the Earth in the field of view) users should see collection DSCOVR EPIC Level 1A Miscellaneous Version V1.

The Level 1A products contain calibrated and geolocated EPIC images with ancillary metadata. These data products are in HDF5 format.

DOI

10.5067/EPIC/DSCOVR/L1A.004

Citation Styles for this Dataset

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION

ALGORITHM DOCUMENTATION

DATA CITATION GUIDELINES

How to cite ASDC data

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

ASDC Data and Information for DSCOVR
Earth Observation Portal Page for DSCOVR Mission Information

INSTRUMENT/SENSOR CALIBRATION DOCUMENTATION

EPIC level 1 A & Calibration factors table

MICRO ARTICLE

PROCESSING HISTORY

Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) Data Format Control Book Specification Version 4 September 15, 2025 to serve as ATBD for L1A and L1 B collections

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

EPIC Geolocation Quality Summary Algorithm Revision 06 Product Version 03

PUBLICATIONS

A New Blue Marble By Scott Kelly, NASA Astronaut

Discover Article "Canadian Wildfire Smoke Was So Widespread it Was Visible From Nearly a Million Miles Away." By Tom Yulsman, May 27, 2023

NASA Earth Observatory Article: 2016 Tournament Earth Champion: The Dark Side of the Moon - The images were acquired by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the DSCOVR satellite

NASA Earth Observatory Article: An EPIC Eclipse: Natural Hazards - The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) was built to provide a distinct perspective on our planet.

NASA Earth Observatory Article: An EPIC New View of Earth: Image of the Day - From one million miles away, the DSCOVR satellite returned its first view of the entire sunlit side of Earth

NASA Earth Observatory Article: April : 2016 : Earth Matters : Blog - The images were acquired by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the DSCOVR satellite

NASA Earth Observatory Article: Keeping on the Sunny Side of Earth

NASA Earth Observatory Article: Plumes From Africa's Volcanic Duo: Image of the Day - Located near the equator in central Africa, the Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo volcanoes are often obscured from satellite view by clouds

NASA Earth Observatory Article: Seeing Through the Smoky Pall: Observations from a Grim Indonesian Fire Season - The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera aboard the DSCOVR satellite acquired this view of smoke drifting over the region.

NASA Earth Observatory Article: Space Debris: Image of the Day - Low and High Earth Orbital Debris Images

NASA Earth Observatory Article: The Dark Side and the Bright Side: Image of the Day - A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) has captured a unique view of the Moon as it passed between the spacecraft and Earth

NASA Earth Observatory Article: The Legacy of Nimbus: Image of the Day - No Longer Just for Astronauts

NASA Earth Observatory Article: Up, Up, and Away for DSCOVR - The journey has been a long one for the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR)

NASA Earth Observatory Article: Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan: Image of the Day

NASA Leadership Blog, DSCOVR’s First Light on the Future by Buzz Aldrin

The Atlantic Article "Al Gore Dreamed Up a Satellite—and It Just Took Its First Picture of Earth: The U.S. Deep Space Climate Observatory just sent back its first view of our home world, and it’s a beauty." By Robinson Meyer, July 20, 2015

USER FEEDBACK PAGE

NASA Goddard Twitter Page

From GCMD Science Keywords:

SHORTWAVE DOWNWARD IRRADIANCE > SOLAR IRRADIANCE
ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION

Data Distribution

File Format(s):

HDF5

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Spatial Information

Spatial Coverage: (S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Spatial Coverage Type: Horizontal
Coordinate System: Cartesian
Granule Spatial Representation: Cartesian

Locations

GLOBAL

Temporal Information

Temporal Coverage: 2015-06-15 - Present

Platforms

Solar/Space Observation Satellites

DSCOVR

Deep Space Climate Observatory

EPIC

Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera

Metadata Dates

Created on 2025-07-15