Daily Sea Ice Concentration Grids From AMSR2 Satellite

Sea ice concentration data at a 0.1-degree grid resolution provides daily coverage of the Arctic and Antarctic oceans. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) produces this dataset from the AMSR2 sensor onboard the GCOM-W satellite, launched in 2012. Level 3 processing calculates daily statistical means from Level 1B and Level 2 inputs.

Use Cases

• Analyzing daily sea ice concentration trends in the Arctic Ocean using the 0.1-degree grid values.
• Validating climate model predictions against observed sea ice coverage percentages from the AMSR2 sensor.
• Studying the spatial distribution of sea ice melt and formation patterns in the Antarctic Sea.
• Calculating monthly statistical means from the daily sea ice concentration grids for seasonal analysis.
• Identifying data gaps and error conditions using the defined missing value (-32768) and error value ranges (-32761 to -32767).

Strengths

• Global coverage of Arctic and Antarctic ocean areas.
• Data is provided at a 0.1-degree spatial sampling resolution.
• Separate statistical means calculated for satellite ascending and descending tracks.
• Product is at Version 3, with Version 2 also available for comparison.

Limitations

• Missing and error values (-32768 and -32761 to -32767) require filtering during analysis.
• The dataset's temporal coverage and update recency are unspecified.
• The total volume of data, row count, and file size are unknown.

Provenance

Source

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the AMSR2 sensor on the GCOM-W spacecraft, with Level 3 processing of Level 1B and Level 2 data.

Time Range

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Freshness

Daily statistical period.

Geography

Global coverage over the ocean around the Arctic and Antarctic Sea.