Source/sensor: DMSP F-10 SSM/I

Coverage: December 1990-December 1992, global

Abstract: This data consists of surface wind speed, integrated water vapor content and atmospheric liquid water over the open ocean. The data were derived from the SSM/I (Special Sensor Microwave/Imager) instrument on the DMSP F-10 (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) satellite and were produced by F. Wentz (Remote Sensing Systems). The data cover the period from December 1990 to December 1992. The data are organized sequentially by swath. The data consist of logical records which correspond to a single SSM/I scan containing sixty-four 25 km by 25 km resolution cells. For each cell the following information is given: time, latitude, longitude, a classification index, antenna temperatures and the three geophysical parameters. The classification index is a flag for surface type, e.g., land, sea-ice. No geophysical data were calculated over land or sea-ice. The data are in a binary integer format and users are provided with a Fortran subroutine to unpack the logical records and properly scale the parameters. The data are available on 8 mm tape.

Data Set Volume: ~8 GB

Smallest order: Two weeks of data.

Format: Binary in LINUX Tar on 8-mm tapes.

Comments: SSM/I data from the F-8 satellite is provided in Product #33. There is an overlap of approximately a year in the two products. The instruments on F-8 and F-10 have been calibrated so the data can be used in comparative studies. PO.DAAC Product #30 consists of the same ocean products produced from three of the 10 SMMR channels using the same algorithm as was used to produce products from SSM/I data. These two other data sets can be used to extend the time series.