News

SMAP sea surface salinity data
Satellite Salinity Data Available from SMAP
[18-Nov-16] The PO.DAAC is pleased to announce the availability of the version 2.0 SMAP Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) data from Remote Sensing Systems. This builds upon the legacy of the Aquarius/SAC mission and the official NASA salinity retrieval algorithm applied now to observations from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission. Data begin April 1, 2015 and are ongoing, with a one-month latency in processing and data availability.

Data sets comprising this release include the Level 2C orbital data and two Level 3 mapped salinity products: an 8-day running mean product based on the repeat orbit of the SMAP mission, along with a monthly average product. Both are global in extent and provided at a 0.25° x 0.25° grid. The spatial resolution of all three products is approximately at 40 km. All three products are in the netCDF4 file format, and the L3 products are CF/ACDD metadata standards compliant.

The SMAP-SSS V2.0 data sets are described and discoverable via the PO.DAAC data portal. Access to these data is via PO.DAAC's public FTP site. The data are also accessible via a range of PO.DAAC tools and services: OPeNDAP, THREDDS, PODAAC-WS and in the near future, LAS.

The SMAP Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD), validation analysis and file specification document together with other primary technical documentation, are available from the FTP site together with reader software. General information regarding the SMAP mission is available from the mission website and also via PO.DAAC's SMAP and salinity webpages.

Should you have any questions, please contact us at: podaac@podaac.jpl.nasa.gov.

Image: SMAP sea surface salinity data acquired June 12, 2015. Data were processed by Remote Sensing Solutions using an 8-day running average and 0.25 degree grid.