QuikSCAT Level 2B Ocean Wind Vectors in 12.5km Slice Composites Version 4.0
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DOI10.5067/QSX12-L2B40
Short NameQSCAT_LEVEL_2B_OWV_COMP_12_KUSST_LCRES_4.0
DescriptionThis dataset contains the latest reprocessed version 4.0 of the Level 2B science-quality ocean surface wind vector retrievals from the QuikSCAT scatterometer. The retrievals are provided on a non-uniform grid within the swath at 12.5 km pixel resolution. Higher resolution is achieved through a slice composite technique in which high resolution slice measurements from L1B data are composited into a 12.5 km wind vector cell. Each L2B file corresponds to a specific orbital revolution (rev) number, which begins at the southernmost point of the ascending orbit. This is an official dataset produced by the NASA QuikSCAT Project through the SeaWinds Processing and Analysis Center (SeaPAC). Version 4.0 processing begins with the same L1B (time-ordered backscatter) data as used in the previous Version 3.1 processing. The new version has three important improvements over the previous version 3.1. First, a sea-surface temperature (SST) dependent geophysical model function (GMF) developed by Lucrezia Ricciardulli of Remote Sensing Systems is used in wind retrieval in order to fix persistent speed biases in Ku-band data over cold ocean. Second, near coastal winds are retrieved using the Land Contamination Ratio with Expected Sigma-0 (LCRES) technique which retrieves winds significantly closer to the coast than has been done before. Third, flagging is simplified and extra flags are provided. All of the legacy quality flags are preserved with the same meaning. A new single bit wind_retrieval_likely_corrupted_flag is established for conditions in which approximately 3% (or greater) of the data comprising a wind vector cell (WVC) exhibits suboptimal performance due to rain, ice, or a few other rare anomalous cases. Another bit wind_retrieval_possibly_corrupted_flag is established for conditions in which approximately 15% of the data comprising a WVC near rain, ice, or a coastal boundary is thought to be high quality but may not match up well with numerical wind models due to either remaining rain/ice/land contamination or variability in the winds near ice, rain, and coasts that are not reflected in the numerical weather prediction (NWP) matchups. In addition to these two new bits, copious quality information is provided in the flags and eflags variables to allow users to tailor flags to meet their own needs. New and legacy flag bits are described in more detail in the user guide.
Version4.0
Dataset TypeCOMPLETE
MeasurementOCEANS > OCEAN WINDS > SURFACE WINDS
Processing Level2
CoverageRegion: GLOBAL
North Bounding Coordinate: 90 degrees
South Bounding Coordinate: -90 degrees
West Bounding Coordinate: -180 degrees
East Bounding Coordinate: 180 degrees
Time Span: 1999-Oct-27 to 2009-Nov-22
Granule Time Span: 1999-Oct-27 to 2009-Nov-22
ResolutionSpatial Resolution: 12.5 km (Along) x 12.5 km (Across)
ProjectionProjection Type: Swath
Projection Detail: Along-track Grid
Ellipsoid: WGS 84
Swath Width1800 km
Platform/Sensor
QUIKSCAT
Platform
Name: QUIKSCAT (QUIKSCAT)
Orbit Period: 100.93 minutes
Inclination Angle: 98.6 degrees
/
SEAWINDS
SENSOR
Name: SeaWinds Scatterometer (SEAWINDS)
Swath Width: 1800.0 kilometers
Description: Spacecraft angular distance from orbital plane relative to the Equator.

ProjectQuick Scatterometer (QUIKSCAT)
Data ProviderPublisher: SeaPAC
Creator: SeaPAC
Release Place: PO.DAAC
Release Date: 2018-Mar-29
Resource: https://podaac-tools.jpl.nasa.gov/drive/files/allData/quikscat/L2B12/docs/

Keyword(s)wind data, wind, ocean wind, wind speed, vector, vectors, ocean wind vector, ocean wind vectors, seawinds, quikscat, scatterometer, l2b, version 4.0, v4.0, level 2, level 2b, version 4, v4
Questions related to this dataset? Contact podaac@podaac.jpl.nasa.gov
GENERAL DOCUMENTATION
USER'S GUIDE
ANOMALIES
DATA CITATION POLICY
Citation SeaPAC. 2018. QuikSCAT Level 2B Ocean Wind Vectors in 12.5km Slice Composites Version 4.0. Ver. 4.0. PO.DAAC, CA, USA. Dataset accessed [YYYY-MM-DD] at https://doi.org/10.5067/QSX12-L2B40

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