Communication from Nicolas Reul
The European Space Agency (ESA), the Institut Français pour la Recherche et l’Exploitation de la MER (IFREMER) and the French company OceanDataLab are pleased to announce a new operational service called “SMOS Wind Data Service” which provides, in near real time (NRT), surface wind speed over the ocean derived from the brightness temperature measurements of the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission.
The SMOS NRT wind products can be accessed now at Ifremer here and from June 2020 also at ESA SMOS dissemination service at the following there.
The SMOS Wind Data Service (see here for details) produces 3 types of products:
1) “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) and available within 4 to 6 hours from sensing.
2) 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), SMOS L2WS 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 and available within 4 to 6 hours from sensing.
3) the “SMOS Level 3 daily wind speed” (SMOS L3WS) products which 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. Products are available day after sensing.
For an optimal exploration of the current SMOS wind Data Service products v110 consult the read-me-first.
The documentation for the SMOS Wind Data Service products includes the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document, the Product Description Document and the read-me-first note. These documents can be found in the following link. If you have technical questions to access the data please contact the IFREMER User Services Office at fpaf@ifremer.fr or ESA SMOS dissemination service at smos.dissemination.support@esa.int. If you have scientific questions please contact the project scientist Nicolas.Reul@ifremer.fr
A recent illustration of the SMOS NRT wind data product coverage of the south-Pacific severe tropical cyclone Harold that dramatically affected the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga during the last two first weeks of April 2020 can be seen here:
IFREMER SMOS Wind Data Service, ESA SMOS Mission Manager.
