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Description

The version 5.0 Aquarius Level 2 product is the official third release of the orbital/swath data from AQUARIUS/SAC-D mission. The Aquarius Level 2 data set contains sea surface salinity (SSS) and wind speed data derived from 3 different radiometers and the onboard scatterometer. Included also in the Level 2 data are the horizontal and vertical brightness temperatures (TH and TV) for each radiometer, ancillary data, flags, converted telemetry and navigation data.
Each 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. Enhancements to the version 5.0 Level 2 data relative to v4.0 include: improvement of the salinity retrieval geophysical model for SST bias, estimates of SSS uncertainties (systematic and random components), and inclusion of a new spiciness variable.

Product Summary

Platforms
Aquarius_SAC-D
Instruments
AQUARIUS_RADIOMETER ,
AQUARIUS_SCATTEROMETER
Spatial Extent

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

Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2011-08-25 to 2015-06-07
Data Partner
Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG) ,
Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/PODAAC)
Concept ID
C2036882456-POCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
20343
Processing Level
2
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Surface Winds ,
Salinity

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/GSFC/OBPG. (2017). Aquarius Official Release Level 2 Sea Surface Salinity & Wind Speed Data V5.0 [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/AQR50-2SOCS Date Accessed: 2026-05-30

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ANOMALIES

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

DATA CITATION GUIDELINES

Variables

The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR). Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables. Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data, user guide, and/or other product documentation.

For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor Offset
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_dTa_V Empirical Gal Reflect Adj V polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_Ta_dir_3 Radiometer Galactic Direct Corr 3rd Stokes Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_Ta_dir_H Radiometer Galactic Direct Corr H polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_Ta_dir_V Radiometer Galactic Direct Corr V polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_Ta_err Estimated systematic error in galactic effects (I/2) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_Ta_ref_3 Radiometer Galactic Reflect Corr 3rd Stokes Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_Ta_ref_GO_H Radiometer Gal Reflect Corr H polar (GO) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_Ta_ref_GO_V Radiometer Gal Reflect Corr V polar (GO) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_Ta_ref_H Radiometer Galactic Reflect Corr H polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_Ta_ref_V Radiometer Galactic Reflect Corr V polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_galact_Ta_SSS_sens Estimated SSS retrieval sensitivity to galactic effects (I/2) PSU float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_geo_rot_ang Radiometer Geometric Rotation Angle Degrees float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_hhh_wind_speed Radiometer HHH wind speed meters/sec float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_hh_wind_speed Radiometer HH wind speed meters/sec float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_ice_frac Fraction of ice contamination (radiometer) N/A float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_land_frac Fraction of land contamination (radiometer) N/A float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_moon_Ta_err Estimated systematic error in lunar effects (I/2) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_moon_Ta_ref_3 Radiometer Lunar Reflect Corr 3rd Stokes Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_moon_Ta_ref_H Radiometer Lunar Reflect Corr H polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_moon_Ta_ref_V Radiometer Lunar Reflect Corr V polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_moon_Ta_SSS_sens Estimated SSS retrieval sensitivity to lunar effects (I/2) PSU float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_pol_rot_ang Radiometer Polarization Rotation Angle Degrees float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_solar_Ta_bak_3 Radiometer Solar Back Scattered 3rd Stokes Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_solar_Ta_bak_H Radiometer Solar Back Scattered H polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_solar_Ta_bak_V Radiometer Solar Back Scattered V polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_solar_Ta_dir_3 Radiometer Solar Direct Corr 3rd Stokes Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_solar_Ta_dir_H Radiometer Solar Direct Corr H polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_solar_Ta_dir_V Radiometer Solar Direct Corr V polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_solar_Ta_ref_3 Radiometer Solar Reflect Corr 3rd Stokes Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_solar_Ta_ref_H Radiometer Solar Reflect Corr H polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_solar_Ta_ref_V Radiometer Solar Reflect Corr V polar Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_Ta3 Radiometer Ta 3rd Stokes Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_Ta30 Radiometer Ta 3rd Stokes (no exp drift) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TaH Radiometer Ta H polarization Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TaH0 Radiometer Ta H polar (no exp drift) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TaV Radiometer Ta V polarization Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TaV0 Radiometer Ta V polar (no exp drift) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbH Tb H polarization (no rough corr) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbH_nolc Earth surface Tb H polarization (nolc) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbH_rc Tb H polarization (rough corr) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbH_rc_nolc Tb H polarization (roughness corr, nolc) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbV Tb V polarization (no rough corr) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbV_ice_contam_err Estimated systematic error in ocean surface Tb sea-ice contamination calculation Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbV_ice_contam_SSS_sens Estimated SSS retrieval sensitivity to ocean surface Tb sea-ice contamination correction PSU float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbV_land_contam_err Estimated systematic error in ocean surface Tb land contamination calculation Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbV_land_contam_SSS_sens Estimated SSS retrieval sensitivity to ocean surface Tb land contamination correction PSU float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbV_nolc Earth surface Tb V polarization (no lc) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbV_rc Tb V polarization (rough corr) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TbV_rc_nolc Tb V polarization (roughness corr, nolc) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_Tb_consistency Tb consistency check Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
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