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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_Tb_consistency_nolc Tb consistency check (nolc) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_Tf3 Radiometer Ta 3rd Stokes (rfi filtered) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_Tf30 Radiometer Ta 3 (rfi filtered/no exp drift) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TfH Radiometer Ta H polarization (rfi filtered) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TfH0 Radiometer Ta H (rfi filtered/no exp drift) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TfV Radiometer Ta V polarization (rfi filtered) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_TfV0 Radiometer Ta V (rfi filtered/no exp drift) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_toa_H Radiometer TOA Tb H polarization Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_toa_H_nolc Radiometer TOA Tb H polarization (nolc) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_toa_V Radiometer TOA Tb V polarization Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_toa_V_nolc Radiometer TOA Tb V polarization (nolc) Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_toi_3 Radiometer TOI Tb 3rd Stokes Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_toi_H Radiometer TOI Tb H polarization Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_toi_V Radiometer TOI Tb V polarization Kelvin float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_wind_dir_rand_err Estimated random error in radiometer derived wind direction degrees float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_wind_dir_rand_SSS_sens Estimated SSS retrieval sensitivity to random error in wind direction PSU float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_wind_speed_rand_err Estimated random error in radiometer derived wind speed meters/sec float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_wind_speed_rand_SSS_sens Estimated SSS retrieval sensitivity to random error in wind speed PSU float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_wind_speed_syst_err Estimated systematic error in radiometer derived wind speed meters/sec float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rad_wind_speed_syst_SSS_sens Estimated SSS retrieval sensitivity to systematic error in wind speed PSU float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/RFI_level_err Estimated systematic error in RFI level calculation PSU float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/RFI_level_SSS_sens Estimated SSS retrieval sensitivity to RFI level N/A float -9999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rim_anom Sea Surface Salinity Anomoly (RIM) N/A float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rim_anom1 Sea Surface Salinity Anomoly (RIM) 1m N/A float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rim_anom3 Sea Surface Salinity (RIM) Anomoly 3m N/A float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rim_anom5 Sea Surface Salinity (RIM) Anomoly 5m N/A float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rim_bf_irr Rain Beam Fill Fraction (IRR) N/A float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rim_irr Instantaneous Rain Rate (RIM) millimeter/hour float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rim_pss Probablility of Salinity Stratification N/A float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/rim_sss Sea Surface Salinity (RIM) N/A float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_esurf_H excess surface scatterometer emissivity (H pol) Kelvin float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_esurf_H_uncertainty Uncertainty in surface emmissivity (H-pol) Kelvin float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_esurf_V excess surface scatterometer emissivity (V pol) Kelvin float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_esurf_V_uncertainty Uncertainty in surface emmissivity (V-pol) Kelvin float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_HH_ant ANT Scatterometer NRCS for HH polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_HH_exp Expected Sigma0 for HH polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_HH_toa TOA Scatterometer NRCS for HH polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_HV_ant ANT Scatterometer NRCS for HV polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_HV_exp Expected Sigma0 for HV polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_HV_toa TOA Scatterometer NRCS for HV polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_ice_frac Fraction of ice contamination (scatterometer) N/A float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_land_frac Fraction of land contamination (scatterometer) N/A float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_tot_toa TOA Scatterometer (Total) db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_VH_ant ANT Scatterometer NRCS for VH polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_VH_exp Expected Sigma0 for VH polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_VH_toa TOA Scatterometer NRCS for VH polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_VV_ant ANT Scatterometer NRCS for VV polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_VV_exp Expected Sigma0 for VV polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_VV_toa TOA Scatterometer NRCS for VV polarization db float -999 0 0 1 N/A
/Aquarius_Data/scat_wind_speed Scatterometer Wind Speed meters/sec float -999 0 0 1 N/A
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