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Full catalog/QUIKSCAT_ESDR_L3_WIND_STRESS_V1.0
QUIKSCAT_ESDR_L3_WIND_STRESS_V1.0·v1.0·dataset

Ocean surface winds and their push (QuikSCAT)

QuikSCAT Scatterometer Inter-Calibrated ESDR Level 3 Ocean Surface Equivalent Neutral Wind Vectors and Wind Stress Version 1.0
ocean NASA POCLOUD Level 3 netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Gridded maps of ocean surface winds (both speed and direction) and wind stress, the push the wind exerts on the sea surface, at 12.5 km resolution.

How it's made. Derived from radar scatterometer measurements aboard the QuikScat satellite, intercalibrated with similar instruments on other satellites under NASA's MEaSUREs program.

How & where you'd use it. Used to study ocean-atmosphere interaction, ocean circulation and weather; this first release is aimed especially at science-team evaluation.

What's measured

OCEANS › OCEAN WINDS › SURFACE WINDS › Ocean Surface Wind VectorsOCEANS › OCEAN WINDS › WIND VELOCITY/SPEEDOCEANS › OCEAN WINDS › WIND STRESS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span1999-10-27 → 2009-11-24
  • Measured byQUIKSCAT (SEAWINDS)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Watch sea-surface temperature and marine heatwaves
  • Spot algal blooms and ocean-colour shifts
  • Support fisheries and coastal monitoring
Official description

This dataset contains gridded ocean surface wind vectors (equivalent neutral and true 10m) and wind stress vectors derived from satellite-based scatterometer observations aboard QuikScat, representing the first science quality release of these data funded under the MEaSUREs program. This product from QuikScat has been intercalibrated with similar scatterometer measurements from instruments on the MetOp-A, MetOp-B, and ScatSat-1, all of which can be found on the MEaSUREs OSVW Project Page. The wind vector and stress retrievals are provided on a global grid (one per file) at 12.5 km pixel resolution, but data exist only over areas of the globe that fell within one of the satellite swaths/orbits for that day (see thumbnail). The dataset represents the first science quality release funded under the MEaSUREs (Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments) program. Note that this is the first version of the Level 3 data (V1.0) but they were derived from V1.1 of the Level 2 product. The primary purpose of this release is for science evaluation by the NASA International Ocean Vector Winds Science Team (IOVWST).

Get the data

quikscat_esdr_l3_wind_stress_v1.0_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="QUIKSCAT_ESDR_L3_WIND_STRESS_V1.0",
    version="1.0",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from POCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.