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    • NSCAT Level 2 Ocean Wind Vector Ambiguity Removal Overlay (Hoffman, AER)

    Metadata Updated: February 5, 2026

    This dataset contains the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) Level 2 ocean wind vector ambiguity overlay files for the NSCAT MGDR version 2 dataset, referenced for 25 km wind vector cells (WVC). The dataset is derived from the results of a study which used a 2-D variational analysis method (VAM) to select a wind solution from the NSCAT ambiguous winds (Hoffman et al. 2003). Hoffman et al. chose the ambiguity closest in direction to the VAM surface wind analysis. No ambiguity was chosen for poor quality wind vector cells (WVCs). ECMWF analyses were used as the background field for the VAM. Their choice of ambiguity selection is compared with that of JPL, which used a median filter initialized with NCEP analysis fields. Ambiguity selection is changed in ~5% of the dataset, often improving the depiction of meteorological features where the surface wind is strongly curved or sheared. See Hoffman et al. (2003) for more on the method and results. Additional work by Henderson et al. (2003) compares the results of median filtering (JPL) vs. the 2d-VAR method (Hoffman et al., 2003) using 51 days of NSCAT data, supplemented by the NCEP 1000 hPa wind analyses as background fields.

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date February 5, 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 February 5, 2026
    Publisher NASA/JPL/PODAAC
    Maintainer
    Identifier 10.5067/NSAER-L2AR0
    Data Last Modified 2026-02-03
    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 c6313c47-ff52-43de-b946-9d791da9f0e4
    Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
    Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
    Homepage URL https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/CitingPODAAC
    Old Spatial {"EastBoundingCoordinate":180,"NorthBoundingCoordinate":90,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-90,"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180},"CARTESIAN"
    Program Code 026:000
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash f33ad5668fce9d97c43182cd1f27b4b3acd2c0afecb29505bcea564f686b4706
    Source Schema Version 1.1
    Spatial
    Temporal 1996-09-15/1996-09-15

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