This dataset contains multi-parameter ocean surface and atmospheric gridded observations made by the WindSat Polarimetric Radiometer, a U.S. Navy instrument aboard the Department of Defense satellite named Coriolis. Key parameters include the ocean surface wind speed, wind direction, sea surface temperature (SST), cloud liquid water content, water vapor, and rain rate. It is worth noting that the ocean surface wind speed is broken down into 3 distinct parameters, calibrated as an equivalent neutral wind at the 10 m reference height: all-weather wind speed, low-frequency wind speed, and medium-frequency wind speed. The all-weather wind speed parameter is generated using a unique algorithm to capture wind speed in any rain condition, including tropical cyclones. The low and medium frequency wind speed parameters correspond to the wind speed retrieved at the corresponding low and medium frequency WindSat radiometer bands, respectively. WindSat operates in 5 discrete bands: 6.8, 10.7, 18.7, 23.8 and 37.0 GHz. The 10.7, 18.7 and 37.0 GHz bands are fully polarimetric whereas the 6.8 and 23.8 GHz bands have only dual polarization. The feedhorns of each frequency band trace out different arcs along the bench, therefore the Earth Incidence Angles (EIA) are different for each frequency band. Unlike previous radiometers, the WindSat sensor takes observations during both the forward and aft looking scans. This makes the WindSat geometry of the earth view swath quite different and significantly more complicated than the other passive microwave sensors. The producer of this data set, Remote Sensing Systems (RSS, or REMSS), is the only one available that uses both the fore and aft look directions of WindSat which results in a wider swath and more complicated swath geometry visible in the provided dataset. The "v7" file identifier is to indicate that this is a finished product utilizing the most up-to-date processing provided by RSS. Within this dataset, ascending (daytime) and descending (daytime) gridded orbital passes are packaged into the same daily file. There are currently two counter-parts to this dataset. The first has been generated on behalf of the GHRSST project by RSS, which a specific focus on high-quality SST retrievals: http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/REMSS-L2P_GRIDDED_25-WSAT. The second, has been generated on behalf of the CCMP project in collaboration with RSS, which utilizes a unique data assimilation technique to provide wind direction assigned to each wind speed retrieval: http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/CCMP_MEASURES_ATLAS_L3_OW_L2_5_WINDSAT_WIND_VECTORS_FLK.
