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Surface Turbulent Fluxes, 1x1 deg Monthly Climatology, Set1 and NCEP
Entry ID: GES_DISC_GSSTFMC_2c

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Summary

Abstract: These data are the Goddard Satellite-based Surface Turbulent Fluxes Version-2c Dataset recently produced through a MEaSURES funded project led by Dr. Chung-Lin Shie (UMBC/GEST, NASA/GSFC), converted to HDF-EOS5 format. The stewardship of this HDF-EOS5 dataset is part of the MEaSUREs project,

http://earthdata.nasa.gov/our-community/community-data-system-programs/measures-projects/surface-turbulent-fluxes-esdr
http://earthdata.nasa.gov/our-community/community-data-system-programs/measures-projects

GSSTF version 2b (Shie et al. 2010, Shie et al. 2009) generally agreed better with available ship measurements obtained from several field experiments in 1999 than GSSTF2 (Chou et al. 2003) did in all three flux components, i.e., latent heat flux [LHF], sensible heat flux [SHF], and wind stress [WST] (Shie 2010a,b). GSSTF2b was also found favorable, particularly for LHF and SHF, in an intercomparison study that accessed eleven products of ocean surface turbulent fluxes, in which GSSTF2 and GSSTF2b were also included (Brunke et al. 2011). However, a temporal trend appeared in the globally averaged LHF of GSSTF2b, particularly post year 2000. Shie (2010a,b) attributed the LHF trend to the trends originally found in the globally averaged SSM/I Tb's, i.e., Tb(19v), Tb(19h), Tb(22v) and Tb(37v), which were used to retrieve the GSSTF2b bottom-layer (the lowest atmospheric 500 meter layer) precipitable water [WB], then the surface specific humidity [Qa], and subsequently LHF. The SSM/I Tb's trends were recently found mainly due to the variations/trends of Earth incidence angle (EIA) in the SSM/I satellites (Hilburn and Shie 2011a,b). They have further developed an algorithm properly resolving the EIA problem and successfully reproducing the corrected Tb's by genuinely removing the "artifactitious" trends. An upgraded production of GSSTF2c (Shie et al. 2011) using the corrected Tb's has been completed very recently.

GSSTF2c shows a significant improvement in the resultant WB, and subsequently the retrieved LHF - the temporal trends of WB and LHF are greatly reduced after the proper adjustments/treatments in the SSM/I Tb's (Shie and Hilburn 2011). In closing, we believe that the insightful "Rice Cooker Theory" by Shie (2010a,b), i.e., "To produce a good and trustworthy 'output product' (delicious 'cooked rice') depends not only on a well-functioned 'model/algorithm' ('rice cooker'), but also on a genuine and reliable 'input data' ('raw rice') with good quality" should help us better comprehend the impact of the improved Tb on the subsequently retrieved LHF of GSSTF2c.

This is the Monthly Climatology product; data are projected to equidistant Grid that covers the globe at 1x1 degree cell size, resulting in data arrays of 360x180 size. Starting with Version 2c, there is only one set of Combined data, "Set1". The Monthly Climatology HDF-EOS5 file also contains one extra grid of NCEP Climatology, "NCEP".

SET1 contains 9 variables:

"E" 'latent heat flux' (W/m**2),
"STu" 'zonal wind stress' (N/m**2),
"STv" 'meridional wind stress' (N/m**2),
"H" 'sensible heat flux' (W/m**2),
"Qair" 'surface air (~10-m) specific humidity' (g/kg),
"WB" 'lowest 500-m precipitable water' (g/cm**2),
"U" '10-m wind speed' (m/s),
"DQ" 'sea-air humidity difference' (g/kg)
"Tot_Precip_Water" 'total precipitable water' (g/cm**2)

The NCEP grid contains 4 variables:
"SST" 'sea surface skin temperature' (C)
"Psea_level" 'sea level pressure' (hPa)
"Tair_2m" '2m air temperature' (C)
"Qsat" 'sea surface saturation humidity' (g/kg)

The double-quoted labels are the short names of the data fields in the HDF-EOS5 files.

The monthly temporal and one-degree spatial resolution of the product can be used to examining climate variability at these scales. Oceanic evaporation contributes to the net fresh water input to the oceans and drives the upper ocean density structure and consequently the circulation of the oceans.

The short name for this product is GSSTFMC

Parameters contained in the data files include the following:
Variable Name|Description|Units
Psea_level|sea level pressure|(hPa)
Qsat|sea surface saturation humidity|(g/kg)
SST|sea surface skin temperature|(C)
Tair_2m|2m air temperature|(C)
DQ|sea-air humidity difference|(g/kg)
E|latent heat flux|(W/m^^2)
H|sensible heat flux|(W/m^^2)
Qair|surface air (~10-m) specific humidity|(g/kg)
STu|zonal wind stress|(N/m^^2)
STv|meridional wind stress|(N/m^^2)
Tot_Precip_Water|total precipitable water|(g/cm^^2)
U|10-m wind speed|(m/s)
WB|lowest 500-m precipitable water|(g/cm^^2)
End of parameter information

Related URL

Link: GET DATA > MIRADOR
Description: Search, visualize, subset, and download data in HDF-EOS5

Link: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Description: The data as originally organized in binary format.

Link: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION > USER'S GUIDE

Geographic Coverage

N: 90.0 S: -90.0 E: 180.0 W: -180.0

Data Set Citation

Dataset Originator/Creator: Shie, C.-L., K. Hilburn, L. S. Chiu, R. Adler, I-I Lin, E. Nelkin, and J. Ardizzone
Dataset Title: Surface Turbulent Fluxes, 1x1 deg Monthly Climatology, Set1 and NCEP
Dataset Series Name: GSSTFMC
Dataset Release Date: November 18, 2011
Dataset Release Place: Greenbelt, MD, USA
Dataset Publisher: Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)
Version: 2c
Dataset Editor: Andrey Savtchenko
Issue Identification: GSSTFMC_2c
Data Presentation Form: Digital Science Data
Other Citation Details: http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/GES_DISC_GSSTFMC_2c.html
Online Resource: http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/daac-bin/DataHoldingsMEASURES.pl?PROG...

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 1988-01-01

Stop Date: 2008-12-31

Location Keywords

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > GLOBAL OCEAN

Data Resolution
Latitude Resolution: 1 degree
Longitude Resolution: 1 degree
Temporal Resolution: monthly

ISO Topic Category

CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE
OCEANS

Platform

DMSP >Defense Meteorological Satellite Program [Information]

Instrument

SSMI >Special Sensor Microwave/Imager [Information]

Project

EOSDIS >Earth Observing System Data Information System    [Information]

ESIP >Earth Science Information Partners Program    [Information]

MEASURES >Making Earth Science Data Records for Use in Research Environments    [Information]

CWIC >CEOS WGISS Integrated Catalog    [Information]

Keywords

fluxes

oceanic surface fluxes

latent heat flux

climate

hydrological cycle

hydrology

EOSDIS

Data Set Progress

PLANNED

Originating Center

GES DISC

Data Center

Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (formerly Goddard DAAC), Global Change Data Center, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA [Information]
Data Center URL: http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Data Center Personnel

Name: GES DISC HELP DESK SUPPORT GROUP
Phone: 301-614-5224
Fax: 301-614-5268
Email: gsfc-help-disc at lists.nasa.gov
Contact Address:
Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center
Code 610.2
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
City: Greenbelt
Province or State: MD
Postal Code: 20771
Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution_Media: FTP/HTTP
Distribution_Size: 4 MB
Distribution_Format: HDF-EOS5
Fees: None

Personnel

ANDREY SAVTCHENKO
Role: DIF AUTHOR
Phone: 301-614-5705
Fax: 301-614-5268
Email: Andrey.Savtchenko at nasa.gov
Contact Address:
Distributed Active Archive Center Global Change Data Center
Code 610.2
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
City: Greenbelt
Province or State: MD
Postal Code: 20771
Country: USA

CHUNG-LIN SHIE
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Email: chung-lin.shie-1 at nasa.gov

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 1999-10-07

Last DIF Revision Date: 2013-05-16

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