Aquarius Satellite Seasonal Sea Surface Density Data

Global ocean data provides seasonal sea surface density estimates at a 1-degree spatial resolution. The dataset is derived from salinity measurements by NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D satellite instrument and collated sea surface temperature data. This version 5.0 product specifically contains Ascending pass data averaged over seasonal timescales.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal variations in global ocean surface density patterns.
• Validating and calibrating ocean circulation models using gridded 1-degree density data.
• Studying the relationship between sea surface salinity, temperature, and density derived from satellite measurements.
• Investigating long-term changes in upper ocean stratification using seasonal time-series data.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a sophisticated satellite instrument suite with three radiometers and a scatterometer for surface roughness correction.
• Provides a global, gridded product at a consistent 1-degree spatial resolution, facilitating large-scale analysis.
• Surface density estimates are calculated using the internationally recognized TEOS-10 standard.

Limitations

• Sources disagree on the last update date: one platform lists 2015-06-07, while another lists 2026-03-13, creating uncertainty about data currency.
• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unknown across all platforms.
• The license is unclear, with one source listing 'other-license-specified' and others listing 'None' or 'unknown'.

Provenance

Source

NASA and the Argentinian Space Agency Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE).

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing data from the Aquarius/SAC-D instrument, processed into Level 3 standard mapped images.

Time Range

Seasonal averages (specific date range not provided).

Freshness

2026-03-13 17:22:35.750806

Geography

Global ocean coverage.