Sea surface salinity and extreme wind data derived from the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite using the JPL Combined Active-Passive algorithm. The dataset provides global observations at a 25km swath grid with data beginning on April 1, 2015 and ongoing with a 3-day latency. It is produced by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) based on the newly released SMAP V5 Level-1 brightness temperatures.
Use Cases
- Analyzing global sea surface salinity (SSS) patterns and their uncertainty for ocean circulation models.
- Studying extreme wind speed and direction data for surface roughness correction in salinity retrieval.
- Validating satellite-derived SSS against ancillary reference surface salinity data included in the product.
- Investigating the relationship between brightness temperatures for each radiometer polarization and sea surface conditions.
- Using quality flags and navigation data to filter and geolocate valid salinity and wind observations.
Strengths
- Global spatial coverage with observations provided at a 25km swath grid.
- Temporal coverage from April 1, 2015, ongoing, with data produced for each 98-minute orbit.
- Derived from enhanced SMAP V5 Level-1 brightness temperatures with improved radiometric calibration.
Limitations
- Spatial resolution is approximate 60 km, which may be coarse for regional or coastal studies.
- Surface roughness correction relies on collocated wind speed data due to SMAP scatterometer malfunction since July 2015.
- Specific row count, file size, and detailed data volume metrics are not provided.
Provenance
- Source
- NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory, processed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
- Collection Method
- Satellite remote sensing using L-band radiometer and radar, processed with the Combined Active-Passive (CAP) retrieval algorithm.
- Time Range
- April 1, 2015 to present (ongoing).
- Freshness
- Data is ongoing with a 3-day latency in processing and availability.
- Geography
- Global.