Sentinel-6A MF: High-Resolution Near-Real-Time Ocean Surface Topography

Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich satellite data provides Level 2 high-resolution altimetry with a 3-hour latency. It contains Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA), and Significant Wave Height (SWH) derived from the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter, along with Ku-band measurements at 1 Hz and 20 Hz rates. The product includes altimetry corrections and wind speed from the AMR-C instrument and is analogous to the Jason-3 OGDR product.

Use Cases

• Monitoring sea level rise and ocean circulation based on Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA).
• Forecasting marine weather and wave conditions based on Significant Wave Height (SWH) and wind speed data.
• Validating ocean models and climate predictions based on high-resolution 1 Hz and 20 Hz Ku-band measurements.
• Assimilating near-real-time ocean state data into operational forecasting systems based on the 3-hour latency.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution (HR) altimetry data at both 1 Hz and 20 Hz sampling rates.
• Features a low latency of 3 hours for near-real-time (NRT) applications.
• Data is produced by a major space agency (NASA), indicating a standardized processing chain.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.
• The dataset's temporal coverage (start/end dates) is not specified in the provided metadata.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the Poseidon-4 SAR altimeter on the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich spacecraft.

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:22:15.255230

Geography

Global ocean coverage from the satellite's orbit.