S-MODE L2 Shipboard Meteorological Data from Rawinsondes

Approximately 300 km offshore of San Francisco, this dataset contains atmospheric sounding profiles from the Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) field campaign. Measurements of temperature, winds, and moisture were collected using shipboard Windsond S1H3-S radiosondes launched from the R/V Oceanus during a pilot campaign in October 2021 and intensive periods in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. The original 1Hz observations were gridded onto a uniform 20 m vertical grid to a maximum elevation of at least 5 km above ground level.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical structure of atmospheric temperature, winds, and moisture over the ocean.
• Studying air-sea interaction dynamics influencing the vertical exchange of physical and biological variables.
• Validating and improving atmospheric boundary layer models for offshore regions.
• Investigating sub-mesoscale ocean dynamics and their coupling with the lower atmosphere.

Strengths

• Data is gridded onto a uniform 20 m vertical resolution from original 1Hz observations.
• Campaign includes multiple sampling periods over two years (2021-2023), providing temporal context.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA and Data.gov signals importance and curation.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row counts are not provided in any source, limiting immediate understanding of data structure.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without further detail.
• Metadata on datagov lists a last update date in 2026, which is inconsistent with the described campaign timeline and may be an error.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected using shipboard Windsond S1H3-S radiosondes launched from the R/V Oceanus cruise OC2108A.

Time Range

October 2021, Fall 2022, and Spring 2023

Freshness

2026-04-09 (from datagov, though this date may be anomalous)

Geography

Approximately 300 km offshore of San Francisco