CYGNSS: Ocean Wind Speed and Wave Data from Satellite Constellation

Version 3.1 data supersedes Version 3.0, with updated geophysical model functions and a new wave height-based correction. The dataset provides daily netCDF files containing time-tagged and geolocated average wind speed and mean square slope measurements from the CYGNSS satellite constellation, with a latency of approximately 6 days. It is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean surface wind speed based on satellite-derived delay Doppler maps.
• Analyzing wave conditions and sea state based on mean square slope measurements.
• Studying the correlation between wind speed error and significant wave height using ERA5 reanalysis data.
• Monitoring global wind patterns with 25x25 kilometer resolution data from a constellation of eight spacecraft.

Strengths

• Data is updated to Version 3.1, superseding Version 3.0 with improved calibration.
• Provides measurements from up to eight unique CYGNSS spacecraft consolidated into daily files.
• Includes a new correction for wind speed products based on significant wave height.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data latency is approximately 6 days, which may not suit real-time applications.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite measurements from the CYGNSS constellation Delay Doppler Mapping Instrument.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:19:48.342081; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global ocean coverage determined by satellite specular points.