RapidScat Level 2B Climate Ocean Wind Vectors in 12.5km Footprints

This dataset contains the RapidScat Level 2B 12.5km Version 1.0 Climate quality ocean surface wind vectors. The Level 2B wind vectors are binned on a 12.5 km Wind Vector Cell (WVC) grid and processed using the using the "full aperture" normalized radar cross-section (NRCS, a.k.a. Sigma-0) from the L1B dataset. RapidScat is a Ku-band dual beam circular rotating scatterometer retaining much of the same hardware and functionality of QuikSCAT, with exception of the antenna sub-system and digital interface to the International Space Station (ISS) Columbus module, which is where RapidScat is mounted. The NASA mission is officially referred to as ISS-RapidScat. Unlike QuikSCAT, ISS-RapidScat is not in sun-synchronous orbit, and flies at roughly half the altitude with a low inclination angle that restricts data coverage to the tropics and mid-latitude regions; the extent of latitudinal coverage stretches from approximately 61 degrees North to 61 degrees South. Furthermore, there is no consistent local time of day retrieval. This dataset is provided in a netCDF-3 file format that follows the netCDF-4 classic model (i.e., generated by the netCDF-4 API) and made available via PO.DAAC Drive and OPeNDAP. For data access, please click on the "Data Access" tab above. This climate quality data set differs from the nominal "slice" L2B dataset as follows: 1) it uses full antenna footprint measurements (~20-km) without subdividing by range (~7-km) and 2) the absolute calibration has been modified for the two different low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) mode data sets: LowSNR1 14 August 2015 to 18 September 2015; LowSNR2 6 October 2015 to 7 February 2016. The above enhancements allow this dataset to provide consistent calibration across all SNR states. Low SNR periods and other key quality control (QC) issues are tracked and kept up-to-date in PO.DAAC Drive at https://podaac-tools.jpl.nasa.gov/drive/files/allData/rapidscat/ancillary/revtime.csv. If you have any questions, please visit our user forums: https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/forum/.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_@id https://data.nasa.gov/data.json
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
citation RapidScat Project. 2016-05-06. RapidScat Level 2B Climate Ocean Wind Vectors in 12.5km Footprints. Version 1.0. Rapidscat Level 2B Climate Ocean Wind Vectors in 12.5km Footprints. PO.DAAC. Archived by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Government, PO.DAAC. https://doi.org/10.5067/RSX12-L2C11. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/issrapidscat_factsheet.pdf. RapidScat Project, PO.DAAC, 2016-05-06, RapidScat Level 2B Climate Ocean Wind Vectors in 12.5km Footprints, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/issrapidscat_factsheet.pdf.
creator RapidScat Project
graphic-preview-description Thumbnail
graphic-preview-file https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/Podaac/thumbnails/RSCAT_LEVEL_2B_OWV_CLIM_12_V1.jpg
identifier C1666605353-PODAAC
issued 2016-03-23
landingPage https://doi.org/10.5067/RSX12-L2C11
language {en-US}
metadata_type geospatial
modified 2017-04-28
programCode {026:001}
publisher NASA/JPL/PODAAC
release-place PO.DAAC
resource-type Dataset
series-name RapidScat Level 2B Climate Ocean Wind Vectors in 12.5km Footprints
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 0239258fbaee397f030a9fd349e8b0fb985023f4
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, -61.0], [180.0, -61.0], [180.0, 61.0], [-180.0, 61.0], [-180.0, -61.0]]]}
temporal 2014-10-03T19:28:21Z/2016-08-19T15:01:26Z
theme {ISS_RapidScat,geospatial}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • ckan
  • earth-science
  • geo
  • geoss
  • national
  • north-america
  • ocean-winds
  • oceans
  • united-states
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer David Moroni
maintainer_email David.F.Moroni@jpl.nasa.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-20T12:11:02.731871
metadata_modified 2025-11-20T12:11:02.731876
notes This dataset contains the RapidScat Level 2B 12.5km Version 1.0 Climate quality ocean surface wind vectors. The Level 2B wind vectors are binned on a 12.5 km Wind Vector Cell (WVC) grid and processed using the using the "full aperture" normalized radar cross-section (NRCS, a.k.a. Sigma-0) from the L1B dataset. RapidScat is a Ku-band dual beam circular rotating scatterometer retaining much of the same hardware and functionality of QuikSCAT, with exception of the antenna sub-system and digital interface to the International Space Station (ISS) Columbus module, which is where RapidScat is mounted. The NASA mission is officially referred to as ISS-RapidScat. Unlike QuikSCAT, ISS-RapidScat is not in sun-synchronous orbit, and flies at roughly half the altitude with a low inclination angle that restricts data coverage to the tropics and mid-latitude regions; the extent of latitudinal coverage stretches from approximately 61 degrees North to 61 degrees South. Furthermore, there is no consistent local time of day retrieval. This dataset is provided in a netCDF-3 file format that follows the netCDF-4 classic model (i.e., generated by the netCDF-4 API) and made available via PO.DAAC Drive and OPeNDAP. For data access, please click on the "Data Access" tab above. This climate quality data set differs from the nominal "slice" L2B dataset as follows: 1) it uses full antenna footprint measurements (~20-km) without subdividing by range (~7-km) and 2) the absolute calibration has been modified for the two different low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) mode data sets: LowSNR1 14 August 2015 to 18 September 2015; LowSNR2 6 October 2015 to 7 February 2016. The above enhancements allow this dataset to provide consistent calibration across all SNR states. Low SNR periods and other key quality control (QC) issues are tracked and kept up-to-date in PO.DAAC Drive at https://podaac-tools.jpl.nasa.gov/drive/files/allData/rapidscat/ancillary/revtime.csv. If you have any questions, please visit our user forums: https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/forum/.
num_resources 15
num_tags 11
title RapidScat Level 2B Climate Ocean Wind Vectors in 12.5km Footprints