Skip to main content

Multi-Mission Optimally Interpolated Sea Surface Salinity (OISSS) Level 4 V2.0 Dataset Released

Data Release
Issued
April 10, 2023
Resolved

NASA’s Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) released the PI-produced Multi-Mission Optimally Interpolated Sea Surface Salinity (OISSS) 7-Day and Monthly Level 4 V2.0 datasets based on the Aquarius/SAC-D, SMAP, and SMOS Level 2 mission data gridded on a 0.25 degree spatial grid. An optimal interpolation is applied to each mission dataset to create a gap free gridded product. The datasets are produced by the Earth and Space Research (ESR), Seattle and International Pacific Research Center (IPRC), and the University of Hawaii at Manoa in collaboration with Remote Sensing Systems (RSS), Santa Rosa, California. They cover the period from August 2011 through October 2022, and will be updated regularly every 6 months as new data become available. The datasets are CF/ACDD metadata conventions compliant, and include an estimated SSS uncertainty field.

The multi-mission OISSS Level 4 V2.0 datasets are described, discoverable, and accessible in the NASA Earthdata Cloud (AWS-West) via the Earthdata catalog, as are the associated technical documentation. General information regarding the Aquarius, SMAP, and SMOS missions are available from the respective mission websites. We also encourage users to visit the PO.DAAC Cloud Cookbook for detailed information about how to access the data from NASA Earthdata Cloud.

Citation

Oleg Melnichenko, Peter Hacker, James Potemra, Thomas Meissner, and Frank Wentz (2021). Aquarius/SMAP sea surface salinity optimum interpolation analysis, IPRC Technical Note No. 7, May 7, 2021.

References

Melnichenko, O., P. Hacker, N. Maximenko, G. Lagerloef, and J. Potemra, 2014: Spatial Optimal Interpolation of Aquarius Sea Surface Salinity: Algorithms and Implementation in the North Atlantic, J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 31, 1583-1600.

Melnichenko, O., P. Hacker, N. Maximenko, G. Lagerloef, and J. Potemra, 2016: Optimum interpolation analysis of Aquarius sea surface salinity, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 121, 602-616, doi:10.1002/2015JC011343.

Related PO.DAAC Animations

If you have questions, please contact PO.DAAC user services or visit PO.DAAC on Earthdata Forum.

Details

Last Updated

Dec. 9, 2025

Published

April 10, 2023

Data Center/Project

Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC)