Aquarius L3: Weekly Polar-Gridded Sea Surface Salinity and Brightness Temperature

Polar regions are covered by weekly gridded satellite data from the Aquarius/SAC-D mission. The dataset contains Level-3 products of L-band radiometer brightness temperature observations and retrieved sea surface salinity. It results from a collaborative mission between NASA and Argentina's CONAE space agency.

Use Cases

• Monitoring polar ocean salinity variations based on weekly gridded sea surface salinity retrievals.
• Analyzing L-band microwave emissions based on brightness temperature observations.
• Studying sea ice and ocean interactions in polar regions based on the geospatial grid.
• Validating ocean circulation and climate models based on satellite-derived salinity data.

Strengths

• Data is a Level-3 product, indicating processed and gridded geophysical variables.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals importance and curation.
• Provides two key variables: brightness temperature and sea surface salinity.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates: one source shows 2026-04-10, another shows 2015-06 04.
• Column names and precise data dimensions (rows, size) are not provided in any source.
• Documentation is limited to format listings (HTML, PDF, JPEG); detailed technical specs are unknown.

Provenance

Source

Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC-D) mission by NASA and CONAE.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via L-band radiometer.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-04-10 19:45:20.056364

Geography

Polar regions (implied by title and tags).