DATA
GHRSST Level 3U Global Subskin Sea Surface Temperature version 8a from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 on the GCOM-W satellite
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DOI
10.5067/GHAM2-3UR8A
Short Name
AMSR2-REMSS-L3U-v8a
Description
GDS2 Version -The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) was launched on 18 May 2012, onboard the Golbal Change Observation Mission - Water (GCOM-W) satellite developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The GCOM-W mission aims to establish the global and long-term observation system to collect data, which is needed to understand mechanisms of climate and water cycle variations, and demonstrate its utilization. AMSR2 onboard the first generation of the GCOM-W satellite will continue Aqua/AMSR-E observations of water vapor, cloud liquid water, precipitation, SST, sea surface wind speed, sea ice concentration, snow depth, and soil moisture. AMSR2 is a remote sensing instrument for measuring weak microwave emission from the surface and the atmosphere of the Earth. From about 700 km above the Earth, AMSR2 will provide us highly accurate measurements of the intensity of microwave emission and scattering. The antenna of AMSR2 rotates once per 1.5 seconds and obtains data over a 1450 km swath. This conical scan mechanism enables AMSR2 to acquire a set of daytime and nighttime data with more than 99% coverage of the Earth every 2 days. Remote Sensing Systems (RSS, or REMSS), providers of these SST data for the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Project, performs a detailed processing of AMSR-E instrument data in two stages. The first stage produces a near-real-time (NRT) product (identified by "rt" within the file name) which is made as available as soon as possible. This is generally within 3 hours of when the data are recorded. Although suitable for many timely uses the NRT products are not intended to be archive quality. "Final" data (currently identified by "v8" within the file name) are processed when RSS receives the atmospheric mode NCEP FNL analysis. The NCEP wind directions are particularly useful for retrieving more accurate SSTs and wind speeds. The final "v8" products will continue to accumulate new swaths (half orbits) until the maps are full, generally within 2 days.
Version
8a
Measurement
OCEANS
› OCEAN TEMPERATURE
› SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE
› SUB-SKIN SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE
Processing Level
3U
Coverage
Global
Northernmost Latitude
90.0
Southernmost Latitude
-90.0
Westernmost Longitude
-179.0
Easternmost Longitude
180.0
Time Span(s)
July 2, 2012 to
Present
Resolution
Spatial Resolution
0.25 degrees (Latitude) x 0.25 degrees (Longitude)
Projection
-
Platform/Sensor
GCOM-W1/AMSR2
Project
Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature
(GHRSST)
Data Provider
PO.DAAC