Monthly Global Satellite Observations of Colored Dissolved Organic Matter

GCOM-C/SGLI L3 Binned Colored dissolved organic matter data provides global measurements of ocean color from the SGLI sensor onboard the JAXA GCOM-C satellite, launched in December 2017. The dataset contains 1-month binned statistics at a 1/24-degree spatial resolution. It is produced by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to contribute to higher accuracy of global warming predictions.

Use Cases

• Modeling global ocean carbon fluxes using the colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) concentration values.
• Analyzing spatial and temporal trends in marine biogeochemistry using the monthly binned average (AVE) and root-mean-square (RMS) statistics.
• Assessing data quality and reliability for specific regions by filtering observations with the quality flag (QA_flag).
• Studying extreme events or seasonal patterns using the maximum (MAX) and minimum (MIN) value statistics.
• Calibrating other ocean color products by comparing the number of input data (Ninput) and number of used data (Nused) metrics.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage generated for each statistical unit.
• Provides multiple statistical measures per bin including average, RMS, max, min, and data counts.
• Data is available at multiple temporal resolutions (1-day, 8-day, 1-month) for flexibility in analysis.
• Product is currently at Version 3, indicating ongoing refinement and updates.

Limitations

• Specific row count and total file size are unknown, making storage and processing requirements unclear.
• The 1-month binning period may smooth out short-term biological events important for process studies.
• Relies on satellite sensor retrievals which can be affected by cloud cover and atmospheric correction errors.

Provenance

Source

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Collection Method

Derived from Level 1B and Level 2 products from the SGLI sensor on the GCOM-C satellite, statistically binned in time and space.

Time Range

Time series begins after the satellite's launch on December 23, 2017; specific end date is unknown.

Freshness

Update frequency is tied to satellite operations and product generation, but specific recency is unknown.

Geography

Global coverage with data binned on a 1/24-degree grid using an Equal-Angular (EQA) projection.