Aquarius: Annual Sea Surface Spiciness Maps from Satellite Radiometry

Aquarius Level 3 data provides annual, gridded maps of sea surface spiciness at 1-degree spatial resolution, derived from satellite radiometer and scatterometer measurements. The dataset is produced by NASA and Argentina's CONAE from the AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite, which uses three radiometers and a scatterometer operating at specific GHz frequencies. This version 5.0 product uses only measurements from Ascending satellite passes.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean density and circulation patterns based on gridded spiciness data.
• Analyzing long-term trends in sea surface salinity based on annual averaged satellite measurements.
• Calibrating ocean models using brightness temperature and backscatter data from the described radiometers and scatterometer.
• Studying surface roughness corrections for salinity estimation based on the described scatterometer methodology.

Strengths

• Data is sourced from a dedicated satellite instrument with three radiometers and a scatterometer, as described.
• Provides gridded data at a 1-degree spatial resolution, averaged over annual timescales.
• Produced through a collaborative effort between NASA and the Argentinian Space Agency (CONAE).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset uses only Ascending satellite passes, which may introduce sampling bias.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite's radiometers and scatterometer.

Time Range

Annual averages.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 14:47:35.111012; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global ocean coverage, with a total cross-track swath of 370 km for the radiometers.