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Description

This dataset contains gridded ocean surface wind vectors (equivalent neutral and true 10m) and wind stress vectors derived from satellite-based scatterometer observations aboard QuikScat, representing the first science quality release of these data funded under the MEaSUREs program. This product from QuikScat has been intercalibrated with similar scatterometer measurements from instruments on the MetOp-A, MetOp-B, and ScatSat-1, all of which can be found on the MEaSUREs OSVW Project Page. The wind vector and stress retrievals are provided on a global grid (one per file) at 12.5 km pixel resolution, but data exist only over areas of the globe that fell within one of the satellite swaths/orbits for that day (see thumbnail).
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The dataset represents the first science quality release funded under the MEaSUREs (Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments) program. Note that this is the first version of the Level 3 data (V1.0) but they were derived from V1.1 of the Level 2 product. The primary purpose of this release is for science evaluation by the NASA International Ocean Vector Winds Science Team (IOVWST).

Product Summary

Platforms
QUIKSCAT
Instruments
SEAWINDS
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
0.125 Decimal Degrees x 0.125 Decimal Degrees
Geographic Region
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
GEODETIC
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
1999-10-27 to 2009-11-24
Data Partner
Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/PODAAC)
Concept ID
C3403218558-POCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
3665
Processing Level
3
Published
Science Keywords
Surface Winds ,
WIND VELOCITY/SPEED ,
Wind Stress

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

NASA/JPL. (2025). QuikSCAT Scatterometer Inter-Calibrated ESDR Level 3 Ocean Surface Equivalent Neutral Wind Vectors and Wind Stress Version 1.0 [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ESDQS-L3W10 Date Accessed: 2025-12-14

Documents

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 Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
coverage_date date for which this gridded dataset was computed days since 1999-10-27 00:00:00 int64 N/A N/A 1
distance_from_coast Wind retrieval distance from the coastline closest to the retrieval. km float -99999 -25000 to 25000 1
en_wind_speed retrieved equivalent neutral wind speed m s-1 float -9999 0 to 100 1
en_wind_speed_error equivalent neutral wind speed uncertainty m s-1 float -9999 0 to 50 1
en_wind_u retrieved equivalent neutral eastward wind speed component vector m s-1 float -9999 -100 to 100 1
en_wind_u_error equivalent neutral eastward wind speed component vector uncertainty m s-1 float -9999 0 to 50 1
en_wind_v retrieved equivalent neutral northward wind speed component vector m s-1 float -9999 -100 to 100 1
en_wind_v_error equivalent neutral northward wind speed component vector uncertainty m s-1 float -9999 0 to 50 1
lat Latitude coordinate represents the center of binned data on a 0.125 degree grid. Data within each bin is selected from L2 satellite swath data with a max search distance of 15 km and averaged with gaussian distance weighting. degrees_north float -9999 -90 to 90 1
lon Longitude coordinate represents the center of binned data on a 0.125 degree grid. Data within each bin is selected from L2 satellite swath data with a max search distance of 15 km and averaged with gaussian distance weighting. degrees_east float -9999 0 to 360 1
number_of_samples Number of samples used to form this gridded estimate. N/A byte -1 0 to 100 1
orbit Orbit is utilized as a coordinate variable to distinguish between the daily aggregation of ascending vs. descending orbits in each data variable. N/A string N/A N/A 1
overlap Over the course of a day, many lat/lon coordinates will be overpassed multiple times by the satellite. In these cases, the overlap variable is used as a coordinate dimension for overlapping overpasses. A value of 0 represents the latest available orbit (most recent) in the daily time-sequence. A value of 4 represents the earliest available orbit in the daily time-sequence (least recent). N/A byte N/A 0 to 3 1
quality_indicator quality indicator for wind retrieval -1 short -1 0 to 5 1
real_wind_speed retrieved non-neutral 10m wind speed m s-1 float -9999 0 to 100 1
real_wind_u retrieved non-neutral eastward wind speed component vector m s-1 float -9999 -100 to 100 1
real_wind_v retrieved non-neutral northward wind speed component vector m s-1 float -9999 -100 to 100 1
time date and time seconds since 1999-1-1 0:0:0 float N/A N/A 1
wind_stress_magnitude estimated ocean surface wind stress magnitude N m-2 float -9999 0 to 15 1
wind_stress_magnitude_error ocean surface wind stress magnitude uncertainty N m-2 float -9999 0 to 1 1
wind_stress_u estimated ocean surface wind stress eastward component vector N m-2 float -9999 -20 to 20 1
wind_stress_u_error ocean surface wind stress eastward component vector uncertainty N m-2 float -9999 0 to 1 1
wind_stress_v estimated ocean surface wind stress northward component vector N m-2 float -9999 -20 to 20 1
wind_stress_v_error ocean surface wind stress northward component vector uncertainty N m-2 float -9999 0 to 1 1
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