Weekly Satellite Grids of Ocean Winds, Vapor, Clouds, and Rain

Satellite-derived weekly average grids provide ocean wind speed, atmospheric water vapor, cloud liquid water, and rain rate measurements. This dataset is produced by Remote Sensing Systems using a unified algorithm refined over 20 years, as part of NASA's MEaSUREs Program. Data from the DMSP F15 satellite's SSM/I and SSMIS sensors are intercalibrated and reformatted into netCDF files.

Use Cases

• Analyzing trends in ocean surface wind speeds for climate research.
• Modeling atmospheric water vapor content over global oceans.
• Studying the distribution of cloud liquid water and its relation to weather systems.
• Estimating precipitation rates over oceanic regions for hydrological studies.
• Validating and calibrating other satellite or model-based environmental datasets.

Strengths

• Data is intercalibrated between SSM/I and SSMIS sensors, extending a consistent time series.
• Retrieval algorithm is the product of 20 years of refinements and verifications.
• Provides four key ocean-atmosphere variables simultaneously from a unified physical algorithm.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts exist: last_updated dates differ significantly (2011 vs 2026).
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided by any source.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms.

Provenance

Source

Remote Sensing Systems, produced for NASA's MEaSUREs Program.

Collection Method

Data retrieved from DMSP F15 satellite's SSM/I and SSMIS sensors using a unified physical algorithm, reformatted to netCDF by the Global Hydrology Resource Center.

Time Range

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Freshness

2026-03-12 21:53:42.276728

Geography

Global ocean coverage.