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    • RSS SMAP Level 2C Sea Surface Salinity NRT V6.0 Validated Dataset

    Metadata Updated: April 9, 2026

    The SMAP-SSS level 2C near real-time (NRT) V6.0 dataset produced by the Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) and sponsored by the NASA Ocean Salinity Science Team, is a validated product that provides near real-time orbital/swath data on sea surface salinity (SSS) derived from the NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission. SMAP, launched on January 31, 2015, was initially designed to measure and map Earth's soil moisture and freeze/thaw state to better understand terrestrial water, carbon and energy cycles, and 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 using the NRT SMAP Salinity Retrieval Algorithm, top of atmosphere brightness temperature (TB), wind speed and direction data for extreme winds, and other all necessary ancillary data and the results of all intermediate steps. The observations are global, provided on a 0.25° fixed Earth grid with an approximate spatial resolution of 70 km. The major changes in Version 6.0 from Version 5.0 are: (1) Removal of biases during the first few months of the SMAP mission that are related to the operation of the SMAP radar during that time. (2) Mitigation of biases that depend on the SMAP look angle. (3) Mitigation of salty biases at high Northern latitudes. (4) Revised sun-glint flag. Each data file covers one 98-minute orbit (15 files per day), is available in netCDF-4 file format with about 5 hours l atency.

    This RSS SMAP-SSS V6.0 NRT dataset holds tremendous potential for scientific research and various applications. Given the SMAP satellite's near-polar orbit and sun-synchronous nature with its 1000km swath, 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.

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: See this page for license information.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date April 9, 2026

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NASA Data.json

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date April 9, 2026
    Publisher RSS;NASA/JPL/PODAAC
    Maintainer
    Identifier 10.5067/SMP60-2SNRT
    Data Last Modified 2026-04-06
    Category Earth Science
    Public Access Level public
    Bureau Code 026:00
    Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
    Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
    Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
    Harvest Object Id 28c5e468-4fc0-4b51-91b1-da8694d737be
    Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
    Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
    License https://www.usa.gov/government-works
    Old Spatial "CARTESIAN",{"NorthBoundingCoordinate":90.0,"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180.0,"EastBoundingCoordinate":180.0,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-90.0}
    Program Code 026:000
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash 8a7f7bbe98313a7ef788b101a4cf4fafcbcfb3f0de152b9be9621f0bf87d61b4
    Source Schema Version 1.1
    Spatial

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