Three radiometers and a scatterometer on the AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite measured brightness temperature and ocean backscatter to derive ocean surface wind speeds. This dataset provides gridded seasonal averages at 1-degree spatial resolution, specifically from Ascending satellite passes. It is the official end-of-mission public release (Version 5.0) from the NASA and CONAE collaborative mission.
Use Cases
- Analyze seasonal wind speed patterns from the gridded 1-degree resolution Ascending pass data for climate trend studies.
- Validate numerical weather prediction or ocean circulation models using the satellite-derived seasonal wind speed averages.
- Study the relationship between wind speed and other ocean surface parameters using the coincident radiometer and scatterometer measurements.
- Assess surface roughness corrections for salinity estimation by correlating the scatterometer's 1.26 GHz backscatter data with the derived wind speeds.
Strengths
- Official end-of-mission public data release (Version 5.0) ensuring final calibration.
- Data is gridded at a consistent 1-degree spatial resolution for global analysis.
- Derived from three radiometers and a scatterometer, providing multiple measurement perspectives.
Limitations
- Data is limited to Ascending satellite passes, missing the full diurnal cycle captured by Descending passes.
- Temporal coverage is limited to the mission lifetime, with the last update recorded in 2015.
- Spatial resolution (1 degree) is coarse compared to modern high-resolution satellite products.
Provenance
- Source
- AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite mission, a collaboration between NASA and the Argentinian Space Agency (CONAE).
- Collection Method
- Remote sensing via three L-band (1.413 GHz) radiometers and a 1.26 GHz scatterometer measuring brightness temperature and ocean backscatter.
- Time Range
- Mission operational period, culminating in the final V5.0 release.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Global ocean coverage within the instrument's 370 km (radiometer) and 390 km (scatterometer) cross-track swaths.