Sentinel-6A MF: L2 Low Resolution Ocean Altimetry

Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich satellite data provides reprocessed Level 2 low-resolution non-time-critical altimetry from its Poseidon-4 SAR instrument. The dataset contains geophysical parameters like Sea Surface Height (SSH), Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA), Significant Wave Height (SWH), and wind speed, delivered at 1 Hz and 20 Hz sampling rates. This product is analogous to the Jason-3 GDR and includes altimeter range, orbital altitude, time, water vapor, and various corrections.

Use Cases

• Monitoring long-term sea level rise trends based on Sea Surface Height Anomaly (SSHA) time series.
• Analyzing ocean wave conditions and storm impacts using Significant Wave Height (SWH) and wind speed measurements.
• Calibrating and validating ocean circulation models with precise Sea Surface Height (SSH) data.
• Studiating the continuity of altimetry records by comparing this dataset with analogous Jason-3 GDR products.

Strengths

• Provides dual-frequency (1 Hz and 20 Hz) geophysical parameters, suggesting detailed temporal sampling.
• Represents a standard, reprocessed product from a major space agency (NASA), indicating a level of validation and consistency.
• Cross-platform presence on data.gov and NASA Earthdata signals its importance and reliability as a reference dataset.

Limitations

• Critical metadata like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• The dataset has a stated 60-day latency (Non-Time Critical), making it unsuitable for near-real-time applications.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without detailed terms provided.

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 22:21:44.155365

Geography

Global ocean coverage, inferred from satellite altimetry mission.