MPH:

Generic product header

The MPH identifies the product and some of its main characteristics. The Error Message MPH field summarises the errors encountered in processing.

SPH:

The specific product header for MERIS contains information applicable to the complete product.

The SPH contains references to external data files and data set descriptors, as well as general information applicable to the product such as sensor characteristics, Product Confidence Data (PCD), and metrics summary. A large amount of SPH content can be directly derived from the parent L1b product SPH.

DS :

The data sets are composed of an Annotation Data Set (ADS) and a number of Measurement Data Sets (MDS).

ADS :

The annotation data set is a set of equally sized Annotation Data Set Records (ADSR).

SQADS

Summary Quality ADS

This ADS (SQ ADS) contains information on the quality of the product. The annotation data set is composed of one ADSR for every 8 tie frames; i.e., every 128 RR or 512 FR product lines.

GADS

Global ADS

The GADS contains all the data scaling factors and offsets, which are read from an auxiliary data product.

ADS

Tie points location and auxiliary data ADS

This ADS contains information on geolocation, measurement viewing and illumination geometry, and auxiliary environment parameters for a subset of the product pixels: the tie points. One ADSR (ADS Record) includes the set of tie points corresponding to a given satellite location.

ADSR:

The annotation data set record contains the annotation information provided at the tie points. The tie points are associated to the pixels of the measurement product grid at a spacing of 16 pixels for RR and of 64 pixels for FR. The same separation is applied between MDSR (lines).

MDS:

The measurement data set is a set of equally sized measurement data set records. The last data set of both the Level 1b and the Level 2 products is the flag measurement data set.

MDSR:

The measurement data set records contain the measurement information provided at each product pixel. The size of the pixel content can be different for different data sets.