Aquarius L2 Swath Single Orbit Soil Moisture, Version 2
Data set id:
AQ2_SM
DOI: 10.5067/Aquarius/AQ2_SM.002
There is a more recent version of these data.
Version Summary
Version 2 of the Aquarius L2 Soil Moisture data is the first version available from NSIDC.

Overview

This data set contains Level-2 global soil moisture estimates derived from the NASA Aquarius passive microwave radiometer on the Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC-D). Note: Data beyond April 2014 will not be available until the next version (Version 3) of data are ready, which we anticipate to be soon. Registered data users will be notified when Version 3 data are delivered to NSIDC.
Parameter(s):
BRIGHTNESS TEMPERATURERADAR BACKSCATTERSOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT
Platform(s):
SAC-D
Sensor(s):
AQUARIUS_RADIOMETER, AQUARIUS_SCATTEROMETER
Data Format(s):
HDF
Temporal Coverage:
25 August 2011 to 1 May 2014
Temporal Resolution:
  • 98 minute
Spatial Resolution:
  • varies
  • varies
Spatial Coverage:
N:
90
S:
-90
E:
180
W:
-180
Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.

Data Access & Tools

This data set has been retired. There is a more recent version of these data.

Help Articles

How to Articles

Many NSIDC DAAC data sets can be accessed using the NSIDC DAAC's Data Access Tool. This tool provides the ability to search and filter data with spatial and temporal constraints using a map-based interface.Users have the option to
To convert HDF5 files into binary format you will need to use the h5dump utility, which is part of the HDF5 distribution available from the HDF Group. How you install HDF5 depends on your operating system.
All data from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) can be accessed directly from our HTTPS file system, using wget or curl. Basic command line instructions are provided in the article below.