AMSR-E/AMSR2 Unified: Global Monthly Ocean Atmosphere Grids

Global ocean grids at 0.25-degree resolution provide monthly estimates of water vapor, cloud liquid water, and surface wind speed. The data are derived from Near Real-Time Level-1R satellite data provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Sea surface temperatures from the NOAA 1/4° Daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature product are also included.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean-atmosphere heat and moisture exchange based on water vapor and sea surface temperature data.
• Analyzing long-term trends in oceanic cloud cover based on monthly cloud liquid water content estimates.
• Studying wind-driven ocean surface processes based on gridded surface wind speed data.
• Validating and calibrating other satellite or reanalysis products using the unified AMSR-E/AMSR2 record.

Strengths

• Data combines measurements from two major satellite instruments, AMSR-E and AMSR2, for a unified record.
• Includes multiple key climate variables: water vapor, cloud liquid water, surface wind speed, and sea surface temperature.
• Provides global coverage at a consistent 0.25x0.25 degree spatial resolution.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML projects.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from resampled Near Real-Time (NRT) Level-1R data provided by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-05 19:59:48.089470; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global ocean coverage.