Aquarius L3: Ocean Surface Wind Speed from Satellite Radiometry

NASA and CONAE's Aquarius/SAC-D satellite mission provides Level 3 gridded ocean surface wind speed data. This dataset contains the mission series mean, Ascending-pass wind speed product at a 1-degree spatial resolution, averaged over daily, 7-day, monthly, and seasonal timescales. Data originates from a three-beam push-broom radiometer system measuring brightness temperature at 1.413 GHz, with a scatterometer at 1.26 GHz for surface roughness correction.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal wind patterns over global oceans based on daily to seasonal temporal averages.
• Validating numerical weather prediction models using satellite-derived 1-degree gridded wind speed.
• Studying surface roughness corrections for sea surface salinity estimation using the co-located scatterometer backscatter data.
• Investigating long-term mission-series mean wind speeds for climate trend analysis from Ascending satellite passes.

Strengths

• Data is a product of a collaborative NASA-CONAE satellite mission, providing institutional authority.
• Offers multi-temporal resolution (daily, 7-day, monthly, seasonal) from a single, consistent sensor system.
• Instrument specifications are precisely documented, including beam footprints (76x94 km to 96x156 km) and frequencies (1.413 GHz and 1.26 GHz).

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low; column names, row counts, and exact file sizes are unknown across all platforms.
• A significant conflict exists in 'last updated' dates between Data.gov (2026) and NASA Earthdata (2015), casting doubt on data maintenance.
• The dataset is limited to Ascending-pass retrievals, omitting a full diurnal cycle of observations.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the Aquarius instrument's three radiometers and a scatterometer onboard the AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite.

Time Range

Mission series cumulative mean (coverage dates not specified in input).

Freshness

2026-03-13 17:10:10.543738

Geography

Global ocean coverage, gridded to 1-degree spatial resolution.