Aquarius Level 3 sea surface salinity data provides gridded 1-degree spatial resolution salinity values averaged daily. The dataset is produced from measurements by the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite, a joint mission between NASA and Argentina's CONAE. This version 5.0 product was last updated in June 2015.
Use Cases
- Analyze daily sea surface salinity patterns from gridded 1-degree resolution maps.
- Study salinity changes in relation to rainfall events using the rain-flagged data feature.
- Validate ocean circulation models by comparing with satellite-derived salinity measurements from three radiometer beams.
- Investigate the relationship between ocean backscatter from the scatterometer and sea surface roughness corrections.
Strengths
- Data is gridded at a consistent 1-degree spatial resolution for global analysis.
- Salinity retrievals incorporate corrections from a dedicated scatterometer operating at 1.26 GHz.
- Measurements are derived from three radiometers providing footprints with a total cross-track swath of 370 km.
Limitations
- Data is from 2015 and may not reflect current ocean conditions.
- Specific row count, sample size, and data volume metrics are unknown.
- The dataset is limited to Ascending satellite passes only, not providing a complete diurnal cycle.
Provenance
- Source
- Aquarius/SAC-D satellite, a collaborative mission between NASA and Argentina's CONAE.
- Collection Method
- Satellite remote sensing using three push-broom radiometers and a scatterometer measuring brightness temperature and ocean backscatter.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Global ocean coverage within the satellite's 370 km swath.