Sentinel-6A AMR-C: Near-Real-Time Ocean Geophysical Data

Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich satellite data provides Level 2 near real-time geophysical parameters from its Advanced Microwave Radiometer. The dataset includes surface type, wind speed, water vapor, brightness temperature, sigma0, and wet troposphere measurements, interpolated to correspond with altimetry measurements from the Poseidon-4 SAR. These parameters supply environmental corrections for satellite altimetry, analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Use Cases

• Correcting satellite altimeter sea level measurements based on wet troposphere path delay data.
• Analyzing ocean surface wind speed conditions for weather and climate models.
• Studying atmospheric water vapor distribution over the oceans for hydrological cycle research.
• Monitoring sea surface type and brightness temperature for oceanographic and cryospheric applications.

Strengths

• Provides data with a 3-hour latency, enabling near real-time analysis.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA Earthdata signals its importance and validation.
• Data is interpolated to correspond with specific altimetry measurements, enhancing its utility for correction purposes.

Limitations

• Key metadata like row count, size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without further detail.
• The last update date shows a conflict, with one source listing 2026-03-12 and another 2026-04-09, though both are future dates which may indicate a metadata error.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected by the Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C) instrument on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft.

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:23:14.149764

Geography

Global ocean coverage from the satellite's orbit.