N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Description
The version 5.0 Aquarius CAP Level 2 product contains the fourth release of the AQUARIUS/SAC-D orbital/swath data based on the Combined Active Passive (CAP) algorithm. CAP is a P.I. produced dataset developed and provided by JPL. This Level 2 dataset contains sea surface salinity (SSS), wind speed and wind direction data derived from 3 different radiometers and the onboard scatterometer. The CAP algorithm simultaneously retrieves the salinity, wind speed and direction by minimizing the sum of squared differences between model and observations. The main improvements in CAP V5.0 relative to the previous version include: updates to the Geophysical Model Functions to 4th order harmonics with the inclusion of sea surface temperature (SST) and stability at air-sea interface effects; use of the Canadian Meteorological Center (CMC) SST product as the new source ancillary sea surface temperature data in place of NOAA OI SST. Each L2 data file covers one 98 minute orbit. The Aquarius instrument is onboard the AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellite, a collaborative effort between NASA and the Argentinian Space Agency Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE). The instrument consists of three radiometers in push broom alignment at incidence angles of 29, 38, and 46 degrees incidence angles relative to the shadow side of the orbit. Footprints for the beams are: 76 km (along-track) x 94 km (cross-track), 84 km x 120 km and 96km x 156 km, yielding a total cross-track swath of 370 km. The radiometers measure brightness temperature at 1.413 GHz in their respective horizontal and vertical polarizations (TH and TV). A scatterometer operating at 1.26 GHz measures ocean backscatter in each footprint that is used for surface roughness corrections in the estimation of salinity. The scatterometer has an approximate 390km swath.
Product Summary
Citation
Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.
Copy Citation
Documents
USER'S GUIDE
DATA CITATION GUIDELINES
Variables
Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.
The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.
| Name Sort descending | Description | Units | Data Type | Fill Value | Valid Range | Scale Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| anc_SSS | Sea surface salinity climatology | PSU | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| anc_surface_temp | Surface temperature | Kelvin | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| anc_swh | Ancillary significant wave height | Meters | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| anc_wind_dir | Ancillary wind direction 10m above surface | Degrees | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| anc_wind_speed | Ancillary wind speed 10m above surface | Meters/second | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| beam_clat | Beam center latitude | Degrees | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| beam_clon | Beam center longitude | Degrees | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| cap_far_rot | CAP Faraday rotation angle | Degrees | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| cap_flag | CAP quality flag | N/A | ubyte | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| ice_frac | Fraction of ice contamination (radiometer) | N/A | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| land_frac | Fraction of land contamination (radiometer) | N/A | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| scat_ice_frac | Fraction of ice contamination (scatterometer) | N/A | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| scat_land_frac | Fraction of land contamination (scatterometer) | N/A | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| scat_swh_wind_speed | Scatterometer-only wind speed with SWH GMF | Meters/second | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| scat_wind_speed | Scatterometer-only wind speed | Meters/second | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| sec | Block time, seconds of day | Seconds | double | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| SSS | Sea surface salinity | PSU | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| SSS_cap | CAP Sea surface salinity | PSU | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| SSS_cap_h | SSS_cap_h | N/A | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| SSS_cap_rc | CAP Sea surface salinity with rain correction | PSU | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| SSS_cap_v | SSS_cap_v | N/A | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| wind_dir_cap | CAP wind direction | Degrees | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| wind_dir_cap_rc | CAP_RC wind direction | Degrees | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| wind_speed_cap | CAP wind speed | Meters/second | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| wind_speed_cap_rc | CAP_RC wind speed | Meters/second | float | N/A | N/A | 1 |