Aquarius V5.0: Monthly Climatology of Descending Rain-flagged Sea Surface Salinity

Global ocean data provides monthly climatological averages of sea surface salinity at a 1-degree spatial resolution, derived from descending satellite passes. The dataset is produced from NASA and CONAE's Aquarius/SAC-D satellite, which uses three radiometers at 1.413 GHz and a 1.26 GHz scatterometer to measure brightness temperature and ocean backscatter for salinity estimation. This rain-flagged product is designed to filter out precipitation effects, offering a stable long-term view of salinity patterns.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term salinity trends and anomalies based on monthly climatological averages.
• Studying ocean circulation and freshwater fluxes using gridded, rain-filtered sea surface salinity data.
• Validating ocean models and other satellite products against this standard mapped image dataset.
• Investigating the relationship between salinity and climate variables like evaporation and precipitation.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a dedicated satellite instrument with detailed specifications: three radiometers at 29°, 38°, and 46° incidence angles and a scatterometer for surface roughness correction.
• Product is rain-flagged, indicating a method to filter out data contaminated by precipitation for more accurate salinity retrieval.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals its importance as an official, vetted scientific dataset.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low: specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided across any source.
• There is a significant conflict in freshness: one source lists an update date in 2026, while another lists 2015, casting doubt on data currency.
• The dataset is limited to descending satellite passes only, excluding data from ascending passes.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE), Argentina.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing from the Aquarius instrument onboard the AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite, processed to Level 3 standard mapped images.

Time Range

Climatological period (specific years not stated).

Freshness

2026-03-13 17:25:17.828515 (Data.gov), but conflicts with a 2015 date from NASA EarthData.

Geography

Global ocean coverage.