CYGNSS: Ocean Surface Heat Flux Climate Data Record

Version 1.2 of the CYGNSS Level 2 Ocean Surface Heat Flux Climate Data Record provides ocean surface heat flux parameters with 25x25 kilometer footprint resolution and 6-7 day latency. It is produced by NASA's CYGNSS mission using the COARE 3.5 algorithm, combining satellite-derived wind speed estimates with ERA5 reanalysis data. More information on production and validation is available in the dataset user guide.

Use Cases

• Analyze ocean-atmosphere heat exchange based on latent and sensible heat flux parameters
• Study tropical cyclone development based on frequent space-based measurements of surface wind speeds
• Model ocean surface heat budgets based on 25x25 kilometer resolution heat flux data
• Validate climate reanalysis models based on satellite-derived heat flux estimates

Strengths

• Data has a 25x25 kilometer spatial resolution
• Provides parameters with a 6-7 day latency
• Combines CYGNSS satellite wind speed estimates with ERA5 reanalysis auxiliary parameters

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Produced using the COARE version 3.5 algorithm combining CYGNSS L2 CDR v1.2 wind speed estimates with ERA5 reanalysis data.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:25:13.026662; freshness should be verified

Geography

Global ocean surface coverage