Aquarius V5.0: 7-Day Global Sea Surface Salinity Gridded Data

Version 5.0 is the official end-of-mission public data release from the AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite mission. The dataset provides Level 3 sea surface salinity (SSS) as a standard mapped image, averaged over a 7-day temporal scale and gridded at a 1-degree spatial resolution. It is derived from a collaborative NASA and CONAE satellite instrument using three radiometers and a scatterometer for surface roughness corrections.

Use Cases

• Monitoring large-scale ocean salinity variability based on 7-day averaged gridded data.
• Validating and improving ocean circulation models using satellite-derived sea surface salinity.
• Studying the freshwater cycle and its interaction with climate using the 1-degree resolution global maps.
• Assessing instrument performance and retrieval algorithms for future salinity missions based on the final V5.0 data release.

Strengths

• Represents the final, official public data release (Version 5.0) from the AQUARIUS/SAC-D mission.
• Provides derived, analysis-ready data gridded at a consistent 1-degree spatial resolution.
• Data is sourced from a sophisticated satellite instrument suite, including three radiometers at 1.413 GHz and a dedicated scatterometer for corrections.

Limitations

• Conflicting last-updated dates: one source lists 2026-03-13, another lists 2015-06 07, creating uncertainty about metadata freshness.
• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided in the sources.
• The temporal coverage of the dataset (start and end dates) is not explicitly stated.

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 mission's radiometers and scatterometer.

Time Range

7-day averaged periods (specific date range not provided).

Freshness

2026-03-13 17:19:52.957462

Geography

Global ocean coverage from a satellite swath of approximately 370 km (radiometers) to 390 km (scatterometer).