Aquarius V5.0: Daily Descending Sea Surface Density Grid

Aquarius Level 3 data provides daily, descending sea surface density estimates at a 1-degree spatial resolution. The dataset is derived from satellite-measured brightness temperature and backscatter, using the TEOS-10 equation with retrieved salinity and collocated sea surface temperature. It results from a NASA-CONAE collaboration using the three-radiometer Aquarius/SAC-D instrument.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ocean density gradients and their role in thermohaline circulation based on gridded 1-degree data.
• Studying seasonal and interannual variability in sea surface density using daily and 7-day averaged products.
• Validating ocean model outputs of density fields against satellite-derived standard mapped images.
• Investigating the relationship between sea surface salinity, temperature, and density using the TEOS-10 derived estimates.

Strengths

• Provides a specific, gridded product (Daily Descending) from a multi-temporal suite including 7-day, monthly, and seasonal averages.
• Derived from a sophisticated satellite instrument suite with three radiometers and a scatterometer, enabling surface roughness correction.
• Represents an international collaborative standard (version 5.0) from NASA and CONAE.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low; column names, row counts, and exact file sizes are not provided in the sources.
• Source freshness conflict: one platform lists an update in 2026, while another lists 2015, casting doubt on current maintenance.
• The spatial resolution (1 degree) may be too coarse for studies of fine-scale oceanographic features.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE).

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the Aquarius/SAC-D instrument's L-band radiometers and scatterometer.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated dates conflict: 2026-03-13 (datagov) and 2015-06-07 (nasa_earthdata).

Geography

Global ocean coverage from a satellite with a 370 km cross-track swath.