Aquarius Satellite Seasonal Ocean Wind Speed Data

Aquarius Level 3 ocean surface wind speed data provides gridded measurements at 1-degree spatial resolution, averaged over seasonal timescales. This version 5.0 dataset is the official end-of-mission public release from the NASA-CONAE AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite mission, specifically containing wind speed products from Descending satellite passes. The data is derived from a satellite instrument combining three radiometers and a scatterometer for surface roughness correction.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal patterns of ocean surface wind speeds at a 1-degree global grid resolution.
• Validating or calibrating other wind speed datasets or climate model outputs using satellite-derived measurements.
• Studying the relationship between wind speed and other oceanographic variables within the Aquarius mission's data ecosystem.
• Investigating long-term changes in wind conditions over ocean basins using the official end-of-mission data release.

Strengths

• Represents the official version 5.0 end-of-mission public data release, indicating a finalized and curated product.
• Provides data at a consistent 1-degree spatial resolution, facilitating global-scale analysis and model integration.
• Derived from a sophisticated satellite instrument suite combining radiometer brightness temperature and scatterometer backscatter measurements for corrections.

Limitations

• Specific row count, file size, and complete column schema are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, with one listing 2015-06-07 and another listing a future date of 2026-03 13.
• The dataset is limited to wind speed values from Descending satellite passes only, excluding Ascending passes.

Provenance

Source

NASA and the Argentinian Space Agency Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE) via the AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite mission.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing using three radiometers at 1.413 GHz and a scatterometer at 1.26 GHz to measure brightness temperature and ocean backscatter.

Time Range

Seasonal averages (exact years not specified).

Freshness

2015-06-07 12:45:21

Geography

Global ocean coverage with a total instrument swath of approximately 390 km.