Monthly Ocean Surface Wind Speed Climatology from Aquarius Satellite

Monthly climatology data for ocean surface wind speeds, gridded at 1-degree spatial resolution and derived from descending satellite passes. This official end-of-mission release (Version 5.0) was produced by NASA and the Argentinian Space Agency (CONAE) from the AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite, with the dataset last updated in 2015. The data is generated from radiometer and scatterometer measurements at L-band frequencies to estimate wind speed.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term monthly average wind speed patterns over the global ocean using the 1-degree gridded data.
• Validating numerical weather prediction or climate model outputs against satellite-derived wind speed climatology.
• Studying the relationship between wind speed and other ocean surface variables by correlating this data with sea surface temperature or salinity maps.
• Assessing surface roughness corrections for salinity estimation by utilizing the linked scatterometer backscatter measurements.

Strengths

• Official end-of-mission public data release (Version 5.0) providing a stable benchmark.
• Data is gridded at a consistent 1-degree spatial resolution for global analysis.
• Derived from three dedicated radiometers and a scatterometer, providing multiple measurement angles and polarization data.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to the mission lifespan, with data last updated in 2015, indicating staleness.
• Product is specific to descending satellite passes only, not representing full diurnal cycle.
• Spatial resolution (1 degree) is coarse for studying mesoscale or coastal wind phenomena.

Provenance

Source

NASA and the Argentinian Space Agency (CONAE) AQUARIUS/SAC-D mission.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via L-band radiometers (1.413 GHz) and a scatterometer (1.26 GHz) onboard the Aquarius instrument.

Time Range

Covers the operational period of the Aquarius mission, culminating in a monthly climatology product.

Freshness

Data represents a final climatology from a mission concluded prior to 2015; no ongoing updates.

Geography

Global ocean coverage within the instrument's 370 km cross-track swath from descending passes.