Aquarius Satellite 28-Day Sea Surface Salinity Mapped Grids

28-day running mean sea surface salinity (SSS) data from the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite mission, gridded at 1-degree spatial resolution. The dataset is the official end-of-mission public release (Version 5.0) produced by NASA and Argentina's CONAE, with data last updated in June 2015. It provides averaged salinity values derived from three radiometers and a scatterometer measuring brightness temperature and ocean backscatter.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal and interannual variability in sea surface salinity using the 28-day running mean values.
• Validating ocean circulation models by comparing modeled salinity against the gridded 1-degree satellite observations.
• Studying the relationship between sea surface salinity and brightness temperature measurements from the three radiometer beams.
• Correcting for surface roughness effects on salinity retrieval using the integrated scatterometer backscatter data.

Strengths

• Official end-of-mission public data release (Version 5.0) from the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite.
• Data is gridded at a consistent 1-degree spatial resolution for global analysis.
• Derived from multiple sensors including three radiometers and a scatterometer for robust retrieval.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to the Aquarius mission lifetime, ending with this 2015 release.
• Product uses only Ascending pass data, potentially missing diurnal or full-swath variability.
• Spatial resolution of 1 degree may be too coarse for studying mesoscale ocean features.

Provenance

Source

Aquarius/SAC-D satellite mission, a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's CONAE.

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Covers the operational period of the Aquarius instrument, culminating in the final 2015 data release.

Freshness

Data represents the final version (V5.0) released in June 2015; no newer updates are expected.

Geography

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