SMAP L2C: Global Sea Surface Salinity from Satellite
Updated 1mo ago
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Available on 2 platforms
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Description
SMAP satellite data, launched January 31, 2015, provides global sea surface salinity measurements with an approximate 40 km resolution. The validated Level 2C product includes derived salinity with uncertainty, brightness temperatures, collocated wind speed, and quality flags, with files generated for each 98-minute orbit. This version 6.0 dataset, ongoing since April 1, 2015, addresses biases from earlier mission phases and uses WindSat data for corrections following a scatterometer malfunction in July 2015.
Use Cases
Monitoring ocean salinity patterns and freshwater plumes based on the derived sea surface salinity (SSS) field.
Assimilating satellite observations into ocean circulation models using the ancillary HYCOM reference salinity data.
Analyzing the impact of surface roughness on salinity retrieval using the collocated wind speed parameter.
Filtering data for quality-controlled analyses using the provided sun-glint and other quality flags.
Studying diurnal and orbital-scale variability in sea surface properties from the 15 files per day orbital swath data.
Strengths
Provides global coverage with a 1000 km swath, achieving near-complete observation in approximately 3 days.
Version 6.0 includes specific mitigations for look-angle biases and high-latitude salty biases, improving accuracy.
Data latency is about 4 days, supporting near-real-time monitoring and research applications.
Cross-platform presence on NASA and government portals signals validation and importance for the scientific community.
Limitations
Column names and precise row counts are not provided in the available metadata, limiting immediate understanding of data structure.
The dataset relies on collocated wind speed from WindSat due to an instrument malfunction, introducing a dependency on an external sensor.
Spatial resolution is approximate (40 km), which may be too coarse for studying fine-scale coastal or estuarine processes.
Provenance
Source
Remote Sensing Systems (RSS), sponsored by the NASA Ocean Salinity Science Team.
Collection Method
Derived from the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission radiometer.
Time Range
April 1, 2015 to present (ongoing).
Freshness
2026-04-09 22:26:20.059091
Geography
Global
License is specified as 'other-license-specified'; users must check the specific terms on the hosting platform. The standard product is a smoothed salinity product; a 40 km variable is also included but may not be the primary field.