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Description

This dataset contains atmospheric sounding measurements taken during the Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) field campaign. The experiment was conducted approximately 300 km offshore of San Francisco, during a pilot campaign that spanned two weeks in October 2021, and two intensive operating periods in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. S-MODE aims to understand how ocean dynamics acting on short spatial scales influence the vertical exchange of physical and biological variables in the ocean. Sounding profiles were collected using shipboard Windsond S1H3-S radiosondes launched from the R/V Oceanus cruise OC2108A, to a maximum elevation of at least 5 km above ground level (ABL). These measurements are used to understand the vertical structure of atmospheric temperature, winds, and moisture. The original 1Hz observations were gridded onto a uniform 20 m vertical grid. The data are available in netCDF format with dimensions of altitude and profile number.

Product Summary

Platforms
Ships
Instruments
RAWINSONDES ,
RADIOSONDES
Spatial Extent

N: 38.1 S: 36.3 E: -122.9 W: -125.4

Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2021-10-21 to 2023-05-31
Data Partner
Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/PODAAC)
Concept ID
C2832235159-POCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
237
Processing Level
2
Science Keywords
Atmospheric Winds ,
Wind Profiles ,
Surface Winds ,
Atmospheric Temperature ,
Humidity ,
Atmospheric Pressure Measurements

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

S-MODE. (2022). S-MODE L2 Shipboard Meteorological Data from Rawinsondes Version 1 [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/SMODE-SONDE 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
air_press Air Pressure hPa double -9999 0 to 1100 1
air_temp Air Temperature degrees_C double -9999 -273.15 to 100 1
altitude GPS altitude above ground level meters double N/A 0 to 6000 1
dp_temp Dew Point Temperature degrees_C double -9999 -273.15 to 100 1
ewind Eastward Wind Component m s-1 double -9999 -100 to 100 1
latitude GPS latitude of observation degrees_north double N/A N/A 1
longitude GPS longitude of observation degrees_east double N/A N/A 1
nwind Northward Wind Component m s-1 double -9999 -100 to 100 1
rhumid Relative Humidity 1 double -9999 0 to 100 1
time Time of observation days since 1950-01-01T00:00:00Z double N/A N/A 1
wind_dir 0 from north, 90 from east, 180 from south, 270 from west degrees double -9999 0 to 360 1
wind_spd Wind Speed m s-1 double -9999 0 to 100 1
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