CoastWatch Product Glossary
A glossary of terms used by our CoastWatch Product Search Tool to categorize Data Products.
Term | Description | Category | |
---|---|---|---|
ABI | Advanced Baseline Imager |
Instruments | |
ACSPO | Advanced Clear Sky Processor for Ocean (ACSPO) is the NOAA Enterprise SST system |
Processing Algorithms | |
AHI | Advanced Himawari Imager |
Instruments | |
AltiKa | Ka-band Altimeter |
Instruments | |
AMSR-E | Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS |
Instruments | |
AMSR2 | Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - 2 |
Instruments | |
Aqua | Earth Observation System - Aqua |
Platforms | |
Arctic and Sub-Arctic Maritime | >40°N |
Product Spatial Coverages | |
ASCAT | Advanced Scatterometer |
Instruments | |
AVHRR | Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer |
Instruments | |
CoastWatch Global Sectors | The 24 sectors identified for file naming convention when referring to VIIRS data. |
Product Spatial Coverages | |
CoastWatch US Regions | Also known as the CoastWatch Regional Nodes: OceanWatch Central Pacific, PolarWatch, Great Lakes, East Coast, Atlantic OceanWatch - Caribbean - Gulf of Mexico, WaterWatch (inland rivers), West Coast |
Product Spatial Coverages | |
Coriolis | Coriolis |
Platforms | |
CryoSat-2 | European polar region research satellite. |
Platforms | |
DMSP | Defense Meteorological Satellite Program |
Platforms | |
East Asia & Western Pacific | 80E-160W |
Product Spatial Coverages | |
Field Observations | Geographically scattered data points |
Product Spatial Coverages | |
Field Observations (In situ) | Field Observations are in-situ environmental data collection which measures geophysical targets at point locations. These types of observations are often used to help calibrate remote-sensing instruments by providing "field truth". |
Product Families | |
GCOM-W | Global Change Observation Mission for Water |
Platforms | |
Geostationary Earth Orbit Satellite (GEO) | A satellite that constantly views a portion of the Earth from a fixed perspective 35,786 kilometers above the Equator, rotating with the Earth as both move through space. The current geostationary satellites operated by the United States are the GOES-R constellation. |
Platform Types | |
Global | 180W - 180E |
Product Spatial Coverages | |
GMI | GPM Microwave Imager |
Instruments | |
GOES Imager | GOES IMAGER (GOES 12-15) |
Instruments | |
GOES-East | Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - East |
Platforms | |
GOES-West | Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - West |
Platforms | |
GPM | Global Precipitation Measurement |
Platforms | |
Himawari | Himawari |
Platforms | |
HYCOM | HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model |
Models | |
Imager | An imager is a radiometer that includes a scanning capability to provide a two-dimensional array of pixels. |
Instrument Types | |
JASON-2 | Reference altimetry mission |
Platforms | |
JASON-3 | Altimetry reference mission |
Platforms | |
Level 1 | Data products are discrete, instrument-specific datasets containing unprocessed data at full resolution, time-referenced, and annotated with ancillary information including data quality indicators, calibration coefficients and geo-referencing parameters. |
Product Processing Levels | |
Level 2 | Level-2 data products are derived geophysical variables at the same resolution and locations as the level 1 source data. |
Product Processing Levels | |
Level 3 | Level-3 data products which are mapped on uniform space-time grid scales, usually with some completeness and consistency |
Product Processing Levels | |
Level 4 | Level-4 data products which are model output or results from analysis of lower level data e.g.variables derived from multiple measurements. |
Product Processing Levels | |
Low Earth Orbit Satellite (LEO) | A satellite that orbits the Earth at a relatively low altitude - no greater than 2000 kilometers. All polar-orbiting satellites are in LEO. |
Platform Types | |
Marine Buoy | An instrument which floats on top of the water and strategically collects in-situ environmental data. |
Platform Types | |
Meteosat | Meteosat |
Platforms | |
MetOp | Meteorological Operational satellite - A / B / C |
Platforms | |
MIRAS | Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis |
Instruments | |
MOBY | Marine Optical BuoY |
Platforms | |
MOBY | Marine Optical BuoY |
Instruments | |
MODIS | Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer |
Instruments | |
MSI | Multi-Spectral Imager for Sentinel-2 |
Instruments | |
MSL12 | Multi-Sensor Level-1 to Level-2 (MSL12) Ocean Color Data Processing System |
Processing Algorithms | |
NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 |
Platforms | |
OC4 | Ocean Chlorophyll 4 Algorithm. (OC4) |
Processing Algorithms | |
OC4Me | ESA's 4-band combination chlorophyll-a algorithm (OC4ME) |
Processing Algorithms | |
Ocean Color | Radiation from the ocean surface of light in the visible wavelengths gives information about the color of the ocean. This "ocean color" (radiances) can be used to estimate chlorophyll concentration (the pigment in plants and phytoplankton responsible for photosynthesis and the dominant source of color in the open ocean) or the coefficients of light attenuation through the water column and other parameters (generally related to biological processes). In coastal areas, other biological compounds and minerals add complexity to interpretation. Clouds will block remotely sensed OC. |
Product Families | |
Ocean Currents | Oceanic currents include the movement and transport of sea water across the world's oceans. They are driven by tides, winds, and differences in water density. |
Product Families | |
Ocean Heat Content | Oceanic Heat Content (OHC) is the measure of the integrated vertical temperature from the sea surface to the depth of the 26°C isotherm and computed from the altimeter-derived isotherm depths in the upper ocean relative to 20°C |
Product Families | |
OLCI | Ocean and Land Colour Instrument |
Instruments | |
Optical Buoy | An Optical Buoy measures the sunlight incident on and scattered out of the ocean |
Instrument Types | |
OSCAT | OceanSat Scatterometer |
Instruments | |
Polar (Artic/Antarctic) | 60N - 90N 60S - 90S |
Product Spatial Coverages | |
Polar Sea Ice | Both thermal and microwave sensors can be used to estimate sea ice. The thermal method has higher spatial resolution but is impacted by clouds (e.g., VIIRS). The microwave method is lower spatial resolution but not impacted by clouds (e.g. AMSR-2). |
Product Families | |
Poseidon-3 | Poseidon 3 |
Instruments | |
Poseidon-3B | Poseidon-3B |
Instruments | |
Poseidon-4 |
|
Instruments | |
QuikSCAT | Quick Scatterometer Mission |
Platforms | |
Radar Altimeter | A Radar Altimeter transmits microwave pulses to the ground and receives the return signals after reflection at Earth’s surface. |
Instrument Types | |
RadarSat-2 | RadarSat-2 |
Platforms | |
RADS | Radar Altimeter Database System (RADS) |
Processing Algorithms | |
RCM | RadarSat Constellation Mission |
Platforms | |
SAR | Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-band) |
Instruments | |
SAR RCM | Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-band) for RadarSat constellation |
Instruments | |
SAR-C | Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-Band) |
Instruments | |
SARAL | Satellite with ARGOS and AltiKa |
Platforms | |
SAROPS | Synthetic Aperture Radar Operational Product System (SAROPS) |
Processing Algorithms | |
ScatSat-1 | ScatSat-1 |
Platforms | |
Scatterometer | A Scatterometer is a high frequency microwave radar designed specifically to measure backscattered radiation. |
Instrument Types | |
Sea Surface Height | Satellite altimeters use active radar to observe the surface height of the ocean which is not smooth or flat. Fluid hills and valleys deviate from a reference (mean geoid) height at the ocean surface. These vertical gradients are of interest for sea level rise, storm predictions, ocean currents, ecosystem ecology and other applications. |
Product Families | |
Sea Surface Roughness | Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery maps the surface microwave radar reflectivity at resolutions from a sub-meter to 100 m depending on the particular SAR satellite and mode. Since a radar provides its own illumination, imagery is independent of the time of day. At typical radar frequencies, SARs can image through clouds, so SARs are considered "all-weather" instruments. Several gephysical parameters can be derived from SAR including sea surface wind speed. |
Product Families | |
Sea Surface Salinity | The salinity of seawater at the ocean surface can be remotely sensed using microwave frequencies. Currently, this technique is valid for open ocean measurements, while recognizing decreased sensitivity for colder water. Measurements within approximately 50 km of land are biased by land contamination and less accurate. Salinity is a defining parameter for ocean dynamics and can also serve as a proxy for certain biogeochemical processes. |
Product Families | |
Sea Surface Temperature | Satellite SST is the longest and most mature application of ocean remote sensing. Passive observations are made with infrared (IR) sensors onboard multiple polar-orbiting and geostationary platforms, and microwave sensors onboard polar platforms. The IR sensors have higher spatial (1-4km) and temporal (10-15min, onboard geostationary satellites) resolution, and superior radiometric performance. |
Product Families | |
Sea Surface Winds | Sea Surface Winds also known as Ocean Surface Vector Winds (OSVW) for some techniques Winds, both magnitude (speed) and direction over the ocean drive other physical and chemical processes and so are used to model dynamic earth/ocean/atmosphere coupled systems ocean and are used for marine weather forecasting. Different remote sensing techniques may be used for gathering information on ocean surface winds including active radar and passive microwave |
Product Families | |
Seascape Classification | Identifying spatially explicit water masses with particular biogeochemical features using a model and satellite-derived measurements |
Product Families | |
SeaWinds | SeaWinds |
Instruments | |
Selective Acquisitions | Variable coverage. Observations taken as requested over targets of interest. |
Product Spatial Coverages | |
Sentinel-1 | Sentinel - 1A / 1B |
Platforms | |
Sentinel-2 | Sentinel - 2A / 2B |
Platforms | |
Sentinel-3 | Sentinel - 3A / 3B |
Platforms | |
Sentinel-6 | Sentinel-6 |
Platforms | |
SEVIRI | Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager |
Instruments | |
SIRAL | SAR Interferometer Radar Altimeter |
Instruments | |
SLSTR | Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer |
Instruments | |
SMAP | The Soil Moisture Active Passive |
Platforms | |
SMAP | Soil Moisture Active Passive |
Instruments | |
SMOS | The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity |
Platforms | |
SNPP | Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership |
Platforms | |
Sounder | A Sounder gathers infrared energy emitted from Earth's surface to derive a vertical atmospheric profile (temperature, humidity, etc.) |
Instrument Types | |
SRAL | Synthetic aperture Radar Altimeter |
Instruments | |
SSMIS | Special Sensor Microwave - Imager/Sounder |
Instruments | |
Synthetic Aperture Radar | SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) is a type of active data collection where a sensor produces its own energy and then records the amount of that energy reflected back after interacting with the Earth. |
Instrument Types | |
Terra | Earth Observation System - Terra |
Platforms | |
TMI | TRMM Microwave Imager |
Instruments | |
TRMM | Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission |
Platforms | |
True Color Imagery | Visible radiances can be combined to form images that look similar to a "photograph" of the earth and ocean from the satellite perspective. |
Product Families | |
VIIRS | Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite |
Instruments | |
Western Hemisphere | 15W - 135W |
Product Spatial Coverages | |
WindSat | WindSat |
Instruments |