SWOT L2 NALT Interim GDR: Nadir Altimeter Geophysical Data

SWOT Level 2 Nadir Altimeter Interim Geophysical Data Record provides discrete measurements at nadir for each half orbit along the satellite ground track. It uses preliminary values for auxiliary data and a Medium-accuracy Orbit Ephemeris, with data available in netCDF-4 format and a latency of less than 1.5 days. The dataset is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Monitoring significant wave height along satellite tracks.
• Analyzing sea surface topography for ocean circulation studies.
• Validating ocean wave models using nadir altimeter measurements.
• Assessing preliminary orbit ephemeris data for calibration purposes.

Strengths

• Produced by the authoritative National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
• Features a low data latency of less than 1.5 days for timely analysis.
• Available in the structured, self-describing netCDF-4 file format.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all platforms.
• The dataset uses preliminary values and medium-accuracy orbit data, indicating it is not a final product.
• Descriptions are repeated verbatim across platforms, suggesting limited contextual documentation.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite-based discrete nadir measurements along the ground track, using the SWOT altimeter.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to datagov.

Geography

Global coverage along the satellite ground track.