Seasat-A Scatterometer: Dealiased Ocean Wind Vectors (1978)

From 7 July 1978 to 10 October 1978, this dataset contains wind speeds and directions derived from the Seasat-A Scatterometer (SASS). The product, produced by Robert Atlas et al. in 1987, uses an objective ambiguity removal scheme to dealias wind vector data binned at 100 km cells, originally calculated by Frank Wentz. It presents the data chronologically by satellite swath.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical ocean surface wind patterns based on chronologically ordered swath data.
• Validating modern scatterometer wind retrieval algorithms against a foundational, dealiased dataset.
• Studying wind vector variability over a specific 3-month period in 1978 using 100 km binned cells.

Strengths

• Provides a foundational, scientifically processed dataset from the pioneering Seasat mission, a key milestone in satellite oceanography.
• Covers a specific, well-documented 3-month operational period from July to October 1978.
• Employs a documented objective ambiguity removal scheme (Robert Atlas et al., 1987) to improve data usability.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low: column names, row counts, and exact file sizes are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date, with one platform listing a future date (2026-03-12), suggesting potential metadata errors.
• The dataset's temporal coverage is limited to approximately 3 months from a single satellite mission in 1978.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Data derived from the Seasat-A Scatterometer (SASS).

Collection Method

Wind vectors were calculated by Frank Wentz and subsequently dealiased using an objective ambiguity removal scheme by Robert Atlas et al. (1987), binned at 100 km cells.

Time Range

1978-07-07 to 1978-10-10

Freshness

The underlying data is from 1978. Platform metadata shows conflicting last-updated timestamps, with the most recent being 2026-04-09, but this likely reflects a catalog update, not new data.

Geography

Global ocean surface, as measured by the Seasat satellite swaths.