GSSTF3: Daily Global Satellite-Based Surface Turbulent Fluxes at 0.25 Degree Resolution

A 0.25x0.25 degree resolution daily global dataset of surface turbulent fluxes, produced by averaging data from multiple SSM/I satellites. The dataset is produced by a MEaSUREs project led by Dr. Chung-Lin Shie and stewarded by NASA's GES DISC. It uses input data from SSM/I Version-6 and NCEP/DOE Reanalysis-2 products, covering years from 1987 to at least 1999.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean-atmosphere heat exchange based on daily turbulent flux data.
• Analyzing global wind stress patterns for ocean circulation studies based on satellite-derived wind data.
• Studying evaporation and latent heat flux trends over oceans using combined satellite measurements.
• Investigating interannual variability in surface radiation and heat budgets based on the multi-sensor combined product.

Strengths

• Global coverage at a 0.25 degree grid resolution, resulting in data arrays of 1440x720 size.
• Combined product averages data from multiple SSM/I satellites (F08, F10, F11, F13, F14, F15) to improve coverage and reliability.
• Based on upgraded input datasets including SSM/I Version-6 and NCEP/DOE Reanalysis-2 products.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset does not contain the 'WB' variable (lowest 500-m precipitable water).
• Some periods, like December 1987, are filled with missing values due to data scarcity.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Produced from Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) satellite data and NCEP/DOE Reanalysis-2 data, converted to HDF-EOS5 format.

Time Range

1987 to at least 1999, with specific satellite coverage varying by year.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:10:45.157270; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global