MetOp-B ASCAT: Inter-Calibrated Ocean Wind Vectors and Stress, 1999-2022

Ocean surface wind vectors and wind stress vectors derived from the MetOp-B ASCAT scatterometer, inter-calibrated with data from MetOp-A, ScatSat-1, and QuikScat satellites. The Level 2 product provides data at 12.5 km pixel resolution within the satellite swath, creating a continuous record from 1999 to 2022. This version 1.1 release was funded by NASA's MEaSUREs program for science evaluation by the International Ocean Vector Winds Science Team.

Use Cases

• Analyzing global ocean surface wind patterns based on satellite-derived wind vectors.
• Modeling wind stress on ocean currents based on the provided stress vector data.
• Studying long-term climate trends based on the inter-calibrated record spanning 1999-2022.
• Evaluating satellite instrument calibration methods based on the multi-sensor inter-calibration process.

Strengths

• Data is inter-calibrated with measurements from MetOp-A, ScatSat-1, and QuikScat satellites.
• Version 1.1 includes increased data coverage, improved quality control, and new global metadata attributes.
• Provides a continuous record of ocean winds from 1999 to 2022 when used with related datasets.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data coverage is non-uniform within the satellite swath.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from satellite-based scatterometer observations.

Time Range

1999 to 2022

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:21:38.512643; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global ocean coverage