Data access

The datasets produced by SMOS+Storm project include

A. The SMOS+STORM evolution project database  (generated by the project during 2014-2016):

  • Level 2 (satellite swaths) datasets : wind speed estimated from MIRAS onboard SMOS (2010-2016) and AMSR2 onboard GCOM-W1, one file per orbit
  • Level 3 datasets : daily composite of SMAP  wind speed obervations (2015-2016), one file per day for ascending passes and descending passes
  • the SMOS Storm atlas : a database of subsets of a wide range of altimeters, radiometers and scatterometers products over hurricane tracks from 2010 to 2015. The extracted data are ordered by storm generation basin, year, storm name / identifier, satellite / product.

B. The SMOS Wind Data Service products available in near real time (operated since mid-2018):

  • “SMOS Near Real Time Level 2 swath wind speed” (SMOS L2WS NRT)  products,  which are SMOS retrieved surface wind speed gridded maps with a spatial sampling of 1/4°x 1/4° and consisting of orbital segments (containing parts of ascending and descending half orbits) following the granularity of the SMOS Level 1B near real time (NRT) data products. SMOS L2WS NRT products are available within 4 to 6 hours from sensing and are generated in NetCDF-4  format as described in the "SMOS Wind Data Service Product Description Document",
  • SMOS “wind radii fixes” (SMOS WRF) products. Using the Tropical Cyclones (TCs) best-track storm center and intensity forecasts from the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecast System (ATCF) developed by Naval Research Laboratory, Marine Meteorology Division [RD.20], SMOS L2 swath which intercepts current storms are determined. For interceptions with sufficient swath coverage, the processor produces SMOS WRF files generated in the so-called “Fix (F-deck)” ATCF format. The SMOS WRF “fixes” to the best-track forecasts contain: the SMOS 10-min maximum-sustained winds (in knots) and wind radii (in nautical miles) for the 34 kt (17 m/s), 50 kt (25 m/s), and 64 kt (33 m/s) winds per geographical storm quadrants and for each SMOS pass intercepting a TC in all the active ocean basins. SMOS WRF products are available within 4 to 6 hours from sensing and are generated in ASCII format as described in the "SMOS Wind Data Service Product Description Document".
  • the “SMOS Level 3 daily wind speed” (SMOS L3WS) products. SMOS L3WS products are daily composite maps of the collected SMOS L2 swath wind products for a specific day, provided with the same grid than the Level 2 wind data (SMOS L2WS NRT) but separated into ascending and descending passes. SMOS L3WS products are available the day after from sensing and are generated in NetCDF-4 format as  described in the "SMOS Wind Data Service Product Description Document",.

The detail access for each of these two types of data are given in the subfolders. For any access issue, please contact CERSAT help desk (cersat@ifremer.fr).