Aquarius Level 3: Monthly Ascending Sea Surface Salinity Satellite Data

Global sea surface salinity data is provided at a 1-degree spatial resolution, averaged monthly from satellite ascending passes. The dataset is the official end-of-mission public release (Version 5.0) from the NASA and CONAE collaborative AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite mission. It was last updated on March 13, 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling global ocean circulation patterns based on gridded salinity data.
• Studying the relationship between sea surface salinity and the water cycle based on satellite-derived measurements.
• Analyzing long-term salinity trends for climate research based on monthly averaged data.
• Validating and calibrating other oceanographic models based on the standard mapped image product.

Strengths

• Official end-of-mission public data release (Version 5.0), representing a finalized product.
• Data is derived from a dedicated satellite instrument with three radiometers and a scatterometer for surface roughness corrections.
• Provides a global, gridded product at 1-degree spatial resolution.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Contains data only from satellite ascending passes, which may introduce a sampling bias.

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

Monthly averages; specific temporal coverage is not stated in the provided metadata.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 14:50:39.940941; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global ocean coverage.