Monthly Global Ocean Water Vapor Measurements from Satellite

Monthly statistical means of integrated water vapor over ocean surfaces, derived from the AMSR2 sensor onboard the GCOM-W satellite. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) produces this dataset, which provides data on a 0.25-degree grid. Observations began after the satellite's launch in May 2012.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial and temporal trends in Month Mean Integrated Water Vapor (WV) to study climate variability.
• Assessing data reliability for each grid cell using the Standard_Deviation and Average_Number columns.
• Validating atmospheric models by comparing simulated precipitable water against the WV geophysical data.
• Investigating sampling density differences between ascending and descending satellite tracks via the Total_Number field.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage over oceans on a consistent 0.25-degree grid.
• Provides four key data fields per grid cell: mean, standard deviation, and two sample count metrics.
• Long-term data record potential starting from the satellite's operational date in 2012.

Limitations

• Spatial coverage is restricted to ocean surfaces only, excluding land areas.
• The 1-month temporal resolution may be too coarse for studying short-term atmospheric events.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and update recency are not provided in the description.

Provenance

Source

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the AMSR2 microwave radiometer onboard the GCOM-W spacecraft, with Level 3 processing calculating monthly statistical means.

Time Range

Post-May 2012 to present (exact end date unknown)

Freshness

null

Geography

Global coverage over ocean areas only