Satellite Ocean Grids: Monthly Wind, Vapor, Cloud, and Rain Averages

Remote Sensing Systems provides monthly averaged satellite measurements of four key ocean-atmosphere variables: wind speed, water vapor, cloud water, and rain rate. This dataset is part of NASA's MEaSUREs Program, produced using a unified algorithm refined over 20 years and intercalibrated across SSM/I and SSMIS sensors. Data from the DMSP F13 satellite is reformatted into netCDF files by the Global Hydrology Resource Center.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in ocean surface wind speeds for climate models.
• Correlating atmospheric water vapor levels with regional precipitation patterns.
• Studying the distribution of cloud liquid water over global oceans.
• Validating and calibrating other satellite or model-derived rain rate estimates.
• Investigating seasonal cycles in ocean-atmosphere heat and moisture exchange.

Strengths

• Algorithm is the product of 20 years of refinements, improvements, and verifications.
• SSMIS data is intercalibrated to the brightness temperature level of previous SSM/I sensors, ensuring continuity.

Limitations

• Key metadata like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, listing both 2009-11-30 and a future date of 2026-03-12.

Provenance

Source

Remote Sensing Systems, processed by NASA's MEaSUREs Program and the Global Hydrology Resource Center.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the DMSP F13 Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), using a unified physical retrieval algorithm.

Time Range

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Freshness

2009-11-30 23:59:59

Geography

Global ocean coverage.