SWOT Level 2 KaRIn Low Rate Sea Surface Height Data Product, Version D

(SWOT_L2_LR_SSH_D)
VersionD
Processing Level2
Start/Stop Date2022-Dec-16 to Present
Short NameSWOT_L2_LR_SSH_D
DescriptionThe SWOT Level 2 KaRIn Low Rate Sea Surface Height Data Product from the Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission provides global sea surface height and significant wave height observations derived from low rate (LR) measurements from the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn). SWOT launched on December 16, 2022 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California into a 1-day repeat orbit for the "calibration" or "fast-sampling" phase of the mission, which completed in early July 2023. After the calibration phase, SWOT entered a 21-day repeat orbit in August 2023 to start the "science" phase of the mission, which is expected to continue through 2025.
The L2 sea surface height data product is distributed in one netCDF-4 file per pass (half-orbit) covering the full KaRIn swath width, which spans 10-60km on each side of the nadir track. Sea surface height, sea surface height anomaly, wind speed, significant waveheight, and related parameters are provided on a geographically fixed, swath-aligned 2x2 km2 grid (Basic, Expert, Windwave). The sea surface height data are also provided on a finer 250x250 m2 "native" grid with minimal smoothing applied (Unsmoothed).
This dataset is the parent collection to the following sub-collections:
https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/SWOT_L2_LR_SSH_Basic_D
https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/SWOT_L2_LR_SSH_WindWave_D
https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/SWOT_L2_LR_SSH_Expert_D
https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/SWOT_L2_LR_SSH_Unsmoothed_D
DOI10.5067/SWOT-SSH-D
MeasurementOCEANS > SEA SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY > SEA SURFACE HEIGHT
OCEANS > OCEAN WAVES > SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT
Swath Width120 km
Platform/Sensor
SWOT
Platform
Name: Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT)
/
KaRIn
SENSOR
Name: Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn)

SWOT
Platform
Name: Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT)
/
Jason-class Altimeter
SENSOR
Name: Jason-class Altimeter (Jason-class Altimeter)

SWOT
Platform
Name: Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT)
/
AMR
SENSOR
Name: Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR)
Swath Width: 18.7 ghz
Description: The operating frequency which is aimed towards recovery of atmospheric attenuation due to sigma0
Swath Width: 23.8 ghz
Description: The operating frequency which is aimed towards recovery of atmospheric attenuation due to water vapor
Swath Width: 34.0 ghz
Description: The operating frequency which is aimed towards recovery of atmospheric attenuation due to cloud liquid water.

SWOT
Platform
Name: Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT)
/
DORIS
SENSOR
Name: Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS)

SWOT
Platform
Name: Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT)
/
GPSP
SENSOR
Name: Global Positioning System Payload (GPSP)

SWOT
Platform
Name: Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT)
/
LRA
SENSOR
Name: Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA)

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ProjectSurface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT)
Data ProviderPublisher: JPL NASA
Creator: Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT)
Release Place: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Release Date: 2025-May-13
Resource: https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/

FormatnetCDF-4
Questions related to this dataset? Contact podaac@podaac.jpl.nasa.gov
Resolution
Spatial Resolution: 2 Kilometers x 2 Kilometers
 
Coverage
Region: GLOBAL
North Bounding Coordinate: 90 degrees
South Bounding Coordinate: -90 degrees
West Bounding Coordinate: -180 degrees
East Bounding Coordinate: 180 degrees
Time Span: 2022-Dec-16 to Present
Swath Width: 120 km
 
Projection
Ellipsoid: WGS 84
 
Capabilities
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This dataset can be downloaded using the podaac-data-subscriber (the recommended tool for bulk downloading PO.DAAC data). It is a Python package for downloading one or many files using the command line interface. The URL redirects to the data-subscriber home page with instructions for utilizing the tool
DIRECT S3-ACCESS
Available for access in-region with AWS Cloud
Region
us-west-2
Bucket/Object Prefix: Protected buckets contain the data files for a given collection. Protected simply means users must log in to Earthdata Login before gaining access to contents within that S3 Bucket. Please use the S3Credential endpoint to gain an Earthdata login token for use in S3 Access.

Public buckets, in contrast, house metadata such as checksums, imagery, and metadata files and the like. A user can access public buckets and these types of files without logging in to Earthdata Login.

Most of the time, you'll want to access the protected bucket Information
podaac-swot-ops-cumulus-protected/SWOT_L2_LR_SSH_D/
podaac-swot-ops-cumulus-public/SWOT_L2_LR_SSH_D/
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Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. Please cite the data as follows, and cite the reference papers when it is appropriate.
Citation Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT). 2025. SWOT Level 2 KaRIn Low Rate Sea Surface Height Data Product, Version D. Ver. D. PO.DAAC, CA, USA. Dataset accessed [YYYY-MM-DD] at https://doi.org/10.5067/SWOT-SSH-D

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For more information see Data Citations and Acknowledgments.
Journal Reference JPL Internal Document. 2018. Surface Water and Ocean Topography Mission (SWOT) Project: Science Requirements Document, JPL D-61923, Rev. B, Jet Propulsion Laboratory.