Hi Chad,
we (DWD) are receiving the data since yesterday, ca. 17:30 UTC.
Thanks,
Harald
________________________________________
Von: Galley, Chad R (US 3620) via Announcements <announcements@lists.irowg.org>
Gesendet: Dienstag, 19. Mai 2026 02:00:44
An: announcements@lists.irowg.org
Cc: Galley, Chad R (US 3620)
Betreff: [IROWG Announcements] Sentinel-6 B RO NRT BUFR product release on GTS
Dear NWP centers,
The Sentinel-6 project is pleased to announce the release of the Sentinel-6 B RO NRT Levels 1b & 2 BUFR products on GTS starting Thursday, May 21, 2026. BUFR products from the first satellite, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich (“MF”, also known as “A”), will continue to be made available on GTS.
S6-B and S6-MF are currently flying in tandem with a 30-second orbital separation. As a result, the RO measurements from both satellites are closely collocated. The satellites will be in this tandem phase until S6-MF is moved to a different orbit, which will happen no earlier than October 2026 and possibly by January 2027 (TBC). We will follow-up with another announcement when S6-MF has been moved to its new orbit at which point data from both satellites will no longer be collocated.
Validation
The GNSS-RO instrument has been working nominally on S6-B with antenna beam-forming enabled, producing SNRs comparable to COSMIC-2 setting occultations. Rising occultations have lower SNRs than COSMIC-2 due to the smaller fore-looking RO antenna on the Sentinel-6 satellites. As of this writing, the average number of NRT BUFR products generated per day is about 1100. Comparisons with ECMWF and NCEP models of the retrieved bending angle profiles in the core region around 15-40 km show performance characteristics for both Sentinel-6 satellites that are similar to other validated GNSS-RO missions with a bias less than 0.1% in magnitude.
The Sentinel-6 B BUFR products have been assessed by partner NWP centers, which include NOAA, ECMWF, UK Met Office, Météo France, DWD, ECCC, and JCSDA, and were deemed to be of sufficient quality for weather forecasting purposes. NWP partners have recommended their release on GTS for weather forecasting purposes.
WMO Routing Headers
The abbreviated WMO headers for the products from Sentinel-6 B are:
Abbreviated WMO header
Source
Comments
IPXB01 KWBC
Sentinel-6 B BUFR product generated from NASA/JPL’s RO primary processor
Frequently used
IPXB02 KWBC
Sentinel-6 B BUFR product generated from NASA/JPL’s RO back-up processor
Rarely used
BUFR products will be delivered from the primary processor unless an issue is encountered during operational processing that prevents product generation and/or distribution from the primary site. In such an event, products will be delivered from the back-up processor using the corresponding WMO routing header listed in the table above. The satellite code in the BUFR product for Sentinel-6 B is 67.
Please let us know if you have any questions or encounter any issues with the new Sentinel-6 B data.
Best,
Chad, on behalf of the Sentinel-6 RO team
[JPL logo]
Chad Galley
Technologist
362G | Near Earth Tracking Systems
JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109
Mail Stop 238-600
M: 410.491.0024
O: 818.354.1013
F: 818.393.4965
chad.r.galley@jpl.nasa.gov<mailto:chad.r.galley@jpl.nasa.gov>
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