Annual Descending-Pass Sea Surface Salinity Mapped Images

Annual sea surface salinity data from 2011 to 2015, gridded at 1-degree spatial resolution from satellite radiometer and scatterometer measurements. The dataset is produced by NASA and the Argentinian Space Agency (CONAE) using the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite. It contains rain-flagged salinity values averaged from descending orbital passes.

Use Cases

• Analyzing annual global sea surface salinity patterns using the 1-degree gridded salinity values.
• Studying the impact of rainfall on ocean salinity by utilizing the rain-flagged salinity feature.
• Validating ocean circulation models by comparing modeled salinity against the satellite-derived descending-pass observations.
• Investigating long-term salinity trends in specific ocean basins using the annual time-series data.

Strengths

• Data is gridded at a consistent 1-degree spatial resolution for global analysis.
• Incorporates rain-flagging to identify and handle salinity retrievals affected by precipitation.
• Derived from three radiometers and a scatterometer, providing multiple measurement angles and surface roughness corrections.

Limitations

• Dataset is limited to descending orbital passes, missing ascending-pass observations.
• Temporal coverage ends in 2015, providing a limited window for studying long-term trends.
• Spatial resolution of 1 degree may be too coarse for studying small-scale oceanographic features.

Provenance

Source

NASA and Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE).

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft's three radiometers and scatterometer.

Time Range

2011 to 2015.

Freshness

Final release (V5.0) was in 2015; the dataset is not updated.

Geography

Global ocean coverage.