Aquarius Seasonal Sea Surface Salinity Climatology Descending Passes

Seasonal climatology maps of sea surface salinity (SSS) derived from Aquarius satellite descending passes, gridded at 1-degree spatial resolution. The data is version 5.0 from the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite, a joint NASA and Argentinian CONAE mission. It was last updated in June 2015.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal patterns in sea surface salinity using the gridded 1-degree seasonal climatology maps.
• Validating ocean circulation and freshwater flux models against satellite-derived salinity observations from descending passes.
• Studying the impact of surface roughness on salinity retrieval using scatterometer backscatter data referenced in the instrument description.
• Comparing brightness temperature measurements (TH and TV) at 1.413 GHz from three radiometers to assess sensor performance for salinity estimation.

Strengths

• 1-degree spatial resolution provides a detailed global grid for analysis.
• Data incorporates corrections using a 1.26 GHz scatterometer for surface roughness.
• Product is derived from three radiometers with cross-track swath of 370 km.

Limitations

• Dataset has not been updated since 2015, making it temporally stale for current climate studies.
• Specific row count, sample size, and geographic bias details are unknown.

Provenance

Source

NASA Earthdata via POCLOUD.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing using the Aquarius instrument's three L-band radiometers and a scatterometer onboard the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite.

Time Range

Seasonal climatology period unspecified; data version released in 2015.

Freshness

2015-06-07

Geography

Global ocean coverage within the instrument's 370 km cross-track swath.