RSS SMAP Level 3 Sea Surface Salinity Standard Mapped Image Monthly V4.0 Validated Dataset

Description

The version 4.0 SMAP-SSS level 3, monthly gridded product is based on the fourth release of the validated standard mapped sea surface salinity (SSS) data from the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory, produced operationally by Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) with a one-month latency. Enhancements with this release include: use of an improved 0.125 degree land correction table with land emission based on SMAP TB; replacement of the previous NCEP sea-ice mask with one based on RSS AMSR-2 and implementing a sea-ice threshold of 0.3% (gain weighted sea-ice fraction); revised solar flagging that depends on glint angle and wind speed; inclusion of estimated SSS-uncertainty; consolidation of both 40KM and 70KM SMAP-SSS datasets as variable fields in a single data product. Monthly data files for this product are averages over one-month time intervals. SMAP data begins on April 1,2015 and is ongoing, with a one-month latency in processing and availability. L3 products are global in extent and gridded at 0.25degree x 0.25degree with a default spatial feature resolution of approximately 70KM. Note that while a SSS 40KM variable is also included in the product, for most open ocean applications, the default SSS variable (70KM) is best used as they are significantly less noisy than the 40KM data. The SMAP satellite is in a near-polar orbit at an inclination of 98 degrees and an altitude of 685 km. It has an ascending node time of 6 pm and is sun-synchronous. With its 1000km swath, SMAP achieves global coverage in approximately 3 days, but has an exact orbit repeat cycle of 8 days. On board instruments include a highly sensitive L-band radiometer operating at 1.41GHz and an L-band 1.26GHz radar sensor providing complementary active and passive sensing capabilities. Malfunction of the SMAP scatterometer on 7 July, 2015, has necessitated the use of collocated wind speed, primarily from WindSat, for the surface roughness correction required for the surface salinity retrieval.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
21 Generic data readers https://github.com/podaac/data-readers
21 Search results for publications that cite this dataset by its DOI. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=10.5067%2FSMP40-3SMCS
21 NASA SMAP Mission Website http://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/
21 Known issues README https://archive.podaac.earthdata.nasa.gov/podaac-ops-cumulus-docs/smap/open/L3/RSS/README.txt
22 Thumbnail https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/Podaac/thumbnails/SMAP_RSS_L3_SSS_SMI_MONTHLY_V4.jpg
21 SMAP-SSS Project and Instrument Overview http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/smap
21 Dynamically updated RSS webpage listing L2 files with Bad Orbits http://images.remss.com/figures/missions/smap/bad_orbits.txt
21 Dynamically updated RSS webpage listing L2 files with missing ancillary data inputs http://images.remss.com/figures/missions/smap/bad_ancillaries.txt
21 Data Use and Citation Policy https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/CitingPODAAC
21 Browse and download granules over HTTPS using the virtual directories https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/virtual-directory/collections/C2036878255-POCLOUD
21 Browse granule search results in Earthdata Search https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search/granules?p=C2036878255-POCLOUD
21 Information on Data Outages & Known Issues https://archive.podaac.earthdata.nasa.gov/podaac-ops-cumulus-docs/aquarius/open/README.KnownIssues.txt
21 Remote Sensing Systems SMAP Sea Surface Salinity Website http://www.remss.com/missions/smap
33 SMAP-SSS V4.0 Technical Guide (ATBD, Validation Analysis, Product Format Specification) https://archive.podaac.earthdata.nasa.gov/podaac-ops-cumulus-docs/smap/open/docs/V4/RSS_SMAP-SSS_V4.0_TechnicalDocumentation.pdf

Tags

  • salinity-density
  • oceans
  • earth-science

Topics

Categories