PODAAC-SMP20-2SOCS

The version 2.0 SMAP-SSS, level 2C product contains the first release of the validated sea surface salinity orbital/swath data from the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory, and is produced operationally by Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). This release builds upon the legacy of the Aquarius/SAC mission and the official NASA salinity retrieval algorithm which is now applied to observations from the SMAP mission. The SMAP-SSS L2C product includes data for a range of parameters: derived sea surface salinity (SSS), brightness temperatures for each radiometer polarization, antenna temperatures, collocated wind speed, data and ancillary reference surface salinity data from HYCOM, rain rate, quality flags, and navigation data. Each data file covers one 98-minute orbit (15 files per day). Data begins on April 1,2015 and is ongoing, with a one-month latency in processing and availability. Observations are global in extent and provided at a 0.25 degree x 0.25 degree grid with an approximate spatial resolution of 40 km.

The SMAP satellite is in a near-polar orbit at an inclination of 98 degrees and an altitude of 685 km. It has an ascending node time of 6 pm and is sun-synchronous. With its 1000km swath, SMAP achieves global coverage in approximately 3 days, but has an exact orbit repeat cycle of 8 days. On board Instruments include a highly sensitive L-band radiometer operating at 1.41GHz and an L-band 1.26GHz radar sensor providing complementary active and passive sensing capabilities. Malfunction of the SMAP scatterometer on 7 July, 2015, has necessitated the use of collocated wind speed, primarily from WindSat, for the surface roughness correction required for the surface salinity retrieval.

Data and Resources

Field Value
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • ckan
  • geo
  • geoss
  • national
  • north-america
  • united-states
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer User Services
maintainer_email podaac@podaac.jpl.nasa.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-29T17:47:48.265137
metadata_modified 2025-11-29T17:47:48.265141
notes The version 2.0 SMAP-SSS, level 2C product contains the first release of the validated sea surface salinity orbital/swath data from the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory, and is produced operationally by Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). This release builds upon the legacy of the Aquarius/SAC mission and the official NASA salinity retrieval algorithm which is now applied to observations from the SMAP mission. The SMAP-SSS L2C product includes data for a range of parameters: derived sea surface salinity (SSS), brightness temperatures for each radiometer polarization, antenna temperatures, collocated wind speed, data and ancillary reference surface salinity data from HYCOM, rain rate, quality flags, and navigation data. Each data file covers one 98-minute orbit (15 files per day). Data begins on April 1,2015 and is ongoing, with a one-month latency in processing and availability. Observations are global in extent and provided at a 0.25 degree x 0.25 degree grid with an approximate spatial resolution of 40 km. The SMAP satellite is in a near-polar orbit at an inclination of 98 degrees and an altitude of 685 km. It has an ascending node time of 6 pm and is sun-synchronous. With its 1000km swath, SMAP achieves global coverage in approximately 3 days, but has an exact orbit repeat cycle of 8 days. On board Instruments include a highly sensitive L-band radiometer operating at 1.41GHz and an L-band 1.26GHz radar sensor providing complementary active and passive sensing capabilities. Malfunction of the SMAP scatterometer on 7 July, 2015, has necessitated the use of collocated wind speed, primarily from WindSat, for the surface roughness correction required for the surface salinity retrieval.
num_resources 9
num_tags 8
title PODAAC-SMP20-2SOCS