ECOSTRESS

ECOSTRESS (ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station) is NASA’s Earth Venture instrument on the International Space Station. Its thermal-infrared observations retrieve land-surface skin temperature and emissivity, supporting derived evapotranspiration, water-use and plant-stress products. The changing local overpass times of the ISS help sample the daily cycle of ecosystem water use, urban heat and land-surface processes. Coverage remains uneven because of acquisition priorities and downlink limits. Interpret surface temperature separately from weather-station air temperature, and inspect cloud, quality and geolocation flags when combining observations across times or comparing them with ground measurements.