Aquarius Monthly Climatology Sea Surface Salinity Satellite Data

Monthly climatology sea surface salinity data is derived from the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite mission, a NASA-CONAE collaboration. The dataset provides gridded, rain-flagged salinity values at a 1-degree spatial resolution, representing averaged conditions over the satellite's operational period. It is processed to version 5.0 standard, incorporating brightness temperature and scatterometer backscatter measurements for surface roughness correction.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term mean sea surface salinity patterns for climate model validation using gridded salinity values.
• Studying the influence of rainfall on ocean surface salinity through the use of rain-flagged data points.
• Investigating ocean circulation and freshwater fluxes by mapping salinity climatology across global basins.
• Correcting for sea surface roughness effects in satellite salinity retrieval using scatterometer backscatter data integrated into the processing.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized version 5.0, ensuring consistency across the product suite.
• Incorporates multi-sensor fusion, using three radiometers and a scatterometer for improved salinity estimation.
• Provides data at multiple temporal scales (daily to seasonal), with this product focusing on monthly climatology.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and a complete column schema are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on license information, with one platform listing 'other-license-specified' and others showing null.

Provenance

Source

NASA and the Argentinian Space Agency (CONAE) via the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite mission.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing using three L-band radiometers and a scatterometer, processed into Level 3 gridded products.

Time Range

Covers the operational period of the Aquarius satellite, aggregated into a monthly climatology.

Freshness

2026-03-13 17:25:32.981831

Geography

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