How salty the sea surface is, near real-time (SMAP)

The SMAP-SSS V5.0, level 2B (NRT CAP) dataset produced by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Combined Active-Passive (CAP) project , is a validated product that provides near real-time orbital/swath data on sea surface salinity (SSS) and extreme winds, derived from the NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission launched on January 31, 2015. This mission, initially designed to measure and map Earth's soil moisture and freeze/thaw state to better understand terrestrial water, carbon and energy cycles has been adapted to measure ocean SSS and ocean wind speed using its passive microwave instrument. The SMAP instrument is in a near polar orbiting, sun synchronous orbit with a nominal 8 day repeat cycle. The dataset includes derived SMAP SSS, SSS uncertainty, wind speed and direction data for extreme winds, as well as brightness temperatures for each radiometer polarization. Furthermore, it contains ancillary reference surface salinity, ice concentration, wind and wave height data, quality flags, and navigation data. This broad range of parameters stems from the observatory's version 5.0 (V5) CAP retrieval algorithm, initially developed for the Aquarius/SAC-D mission and subsequently extended to SMAP. Datafrom April 1, 2015 to present, is available with a latency of about 6 hours. The observations are global, provided on a 25km swath grid with an approximate spatial resolution of 60 km. Each data file covers one 98-minute orbit, with 15 files generated per day. The data are based on the near-real-time SMAP V5 Level-1 Brightness Temperatures (TB) and benefits from an enhanced calibration methodology, which improves the absolute radiometric calibration and minimizes biases between ascending and descending passes. These improvements also enrich the applicability of SMAP Level-1 data for other uses, such as further sea surface salinity and wind assessments. Due to a malfunction of the SMAP scatterometer on July 7, 2015, collocated wind speed data has been utilized for the necessary surface roughness correction for salinity retrieval. This JPL SMAP-SSS V5.0 dataset holds tremendous potential for scientific research and various applications. Given the SMAP satellite's near-polar orbit and sun-synchronous nature, it achieves global coverage in approximately three days , enabling researchers to monitor and model global oceanic and climatic phenomena with unprecedented detail and timeliness. These data can inform and enhance understanding of global weather patterns, the Earth’s hydrological cycle, ocean circulation, and climate change.