5.8. L2P SAR WV & IW/EW by DLR#

The SAR L2P products are:

  • along-track files for S1 wave mode WV (averaged values for each 20x20 km imagette acquired each 100 km)

  • sea state rastered fields with mesh of 5 km for S1 IW and 17.5 km for S1 EW.

5.8.1. L2P SAR geophysical data record format specification#

The Table provides an overview of the CCI Sea State L2P environment (geophysical) data record within a L2P file (DLR_OCN).

Table 5.6 Summary description of CCI Sea State L2P geophysical data records SAR (DLR_OCN)#

Abb. in netCDF product

Description in netCDF product

Unit/Meaning

total significant wave height

swh

total C band significant wave height

m

mean wave period Tm0-1

Tm0

C band Mean wave period

s

first moment wave period

Tm1

C band First moment period

s

second moment wave period

Tm2

C band Second moment period

s

wave height swell dominant system

swell_swh_primary

C band Dominant swell wave height

m

wave height swell secondary system

well_swh_secondary

C band Secondary swell wave height

m

significant wave height windsea

windwave_swh

C band Windsea wave height

m

mean period windsea

windwave_period

C band Windsea wave period

s

quality flag

swh_quality

quality of C band SAR significant wave height measurement

0=undefined (e.g. land), 1=bad, 2=acceptable (not used), 3 – good

rejection flag

swh_rejection_flags

consolidated Significant Wave height quality flags

1=Nv (variance) > max (not more used), 2=swh outlier, 4=invalid value, 8=wind below 2 m/s (not more used), 16=not_water (land)

uncertainty SWH

swh_uncertanty

best estimate of significant wave height standard error

to MFWAM (CMEMS) estimated for each swh domains 0-1.5 m, 1.5-3m, 3-6m, >6m and interpolated/extrapolated

uncertainty SW1

swell_swh_primary_uncertanty

Best estimate of dominant swell wave height standard error

to MFWAM (CMEMS) estimated for each swh domains 0-1.5 m, 1.5-3m, 3-6m, >6m and interpolated/extrapolated

uncertainty SW2

swell_swh_secondary_uncertanty

Best estimate of secondary swell wave height standard error

to MFWAM (CMEMS) estimated for each swh domains 0-1.5 m, 1.5-3m, 3-6m, >6m and interpolated/extrapolated

uncertainty SWW

windwave_swh_uncertanty

Best estimate of windsea wave height standard error

to MFWAM (CMEMS) estimated for each swh domains 0-1.5 m, 1.5-3m, 3-6m, >6m and interpolated/extrapolated

uncertainty Tm0

Tm0_uncertanty

Best estimate of mean wave period standard error

to MFWAM (CMEMS) estimated for each swh domains 0-4 s, 4-7 s, 7-10s, >10 s and interpolated/extrapolated

uncertainty Tm1

Tm1_uncertanty

Best estimate of first moment wave period standard error

to WW3 estimated for each swh domains 0-4 s, 4-7 s, 7-10s, >10 s and interpolated/extrapolated

uncertainty Tm2

Tm2_uncertanty

Best estimate of second moment wave period standard error

to MFWAM (CMEMS) estimated for each swh domains 0-4 s, 4-7 s, 7-10s, >10 s and interpolated/extrapolated

uncertainty Tmw

windwave_period_uncertanty

Best estimate of mean period windsea standard error

to MFWAM (CMEMS) estimated for each swh domains 0-4 s, 4-7 s, 7-10s, >10 s and interpolated/extrapolated

5.8.2. L2P SAR quality_level#

The DLR algorithm SAR-SeaStaR is optimised for minimizing the percenatge of the non-valid data. For example, the number of non-valid ocean imagettes for S1 WV is ca. 1.5% with an accuracy of ca. 0.26 m in terms of SWH. This optimization allows processing data for ambiguous enviroment conditions dominate in coastal ares (NRCS artifacts by ships, buoys, watermarks, windparks, etc.) and by low winds under 2 m/s.

Due to series of control procedures, rejection has been inicialized:

  • =0 - undefined (e.g. land)

  • =1 - bad

  • =2 - acceptable (not used),

  • =3 - good

5.8.3. L2P SAR rejection_flags#

  • =1 - variance > max (not more used)

  • =2 - swh outlier, non-valid

  • =4 - non-valid value

  • =8 - valid value, wind below 2 m/s (not more used)

  • =16 - not_water (land), correspondes to quality_level=0 (land)