Monthly Climatology of Sea Surface Spiciness from Aquarius Satellite

Aquarius Level 3 data provides a monthly climatology of sea surface spiciness, a measure of thermohaline structure, at a 1-degree spatial resolution. The dataset is Version 5.0, produced by NASA and Argentina's CONAE using measurements from the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite. It was last updated in June 2015.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term average sea surface spiciness patterns from the 1-degree gridded monthly climatology data.
• Studying ocean thermohaline structure and water mass formation using the derived spiciness metric.
• Validating ocean circulation and climate models against satellite-observed monthly climatological spiciness.
• Investigating seasonal to interannual variability in ocean density-compensated temperature and salinity changes.

Strengths

• Data is a processed climatology product, providing stable long-term averages for analysis.
• Spatial resolution is 1 degree, offering global coverage of ocean surfaces.
• Derived from three radiometers and a scatterometer, enabling corrections for surface roughness.

Limitations

• Data is a climatology, not a time series of individual observations, limiting analysis of specific events.
• Temporal coverage and specific date range for the climatology period are not provided.
• The dataset was last updated in 2015, and the mission ended, so data is not current.

Provenance

Source

NASA and Argentina's Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE) via the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing using three push-broom radiometers at 1.413 GHz and a 1.26 GHz scatterometer for corrections.

Time Range

Climatological period not specified; data represents monthly averages.

Freshness

Last updated 2015-06-07; mission concluded, no ongoing updates.

Geography

Global ocean coverage, with a total cross-track swath of approximately 370 km from the satellite instrument.