GHRSST Level 2P Global Subskin Sea Surface Temperature from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 on the GCOM-W satellite for 2016-02-29 (NCEI Accession 0146778)

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) was launched on 18 May 2012, onboard the Global Change Observation Mission - Water (GCOM-W) satellite developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The GCOM-W mission aims to establish the global and long-term observation system to collect data, which is needed to understand mechanisms of climate and water cycle variations, and demonstrate its utilization. AMSR2 onboard the first generation of the GCOM-W satellite will continue Aqua/AMSR-E observations of water vapor, cloud liquid water, precipitation, SST, sea surface wind speed, sea ice concentration, snow depth, and soil moisture. AMSR2 is a remote sensing instrument for measuring weak microwave emission from the surface and the atmosphere of the Earth. From about 700 km above the Earth, AMSR2 will provide us highly accurate measurements of the intensity of microwave emission and scattering. The antenna of AMSR2 rotates once per 1.5 seconds and obtains data over a 1450 km swath. This conical scan mechanism enables AMSR2 to acquire a set of daytime and nighttime data with more than 99% coverage of the Earth every 2 days. Remote Sensing Systems (RSS, or REMSS), providers of these SST data for the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Project, performs a detailed processing of AMSR2 instrument data in two stages. The first stage produces a near-real-time (NRT) product (identified by "_rt_" within the file name) which is made as available as soon as possible. This is generally within 3 hours of when the data are recorded. Although suitable for many timely uses the NRT products are not intended to be archive quality. "Final" data (currently identified by "v7.2" within the file name) are processed when RSS receives the atmospheric model National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Final Analysis (FNL) Operational Global Analysis. The NCEP wind directions are particularly useful for retrieving more accurate SSTs and wind speeds. This dataset adheres to the GHRSST Data Processing Specification (GDS) version 2 format specifications.

先进微波扫描辐射计2号（Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2, AMSR2）于2012年5月18日随日本宇宙航空研究开发机构（Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA）研制的全球变化观测任务-水（Global Change Observation Mission - Water, GCOM-W）卫星发射升空。GCOM-W任务旨在构建全球长期观测体系，以收集理解气候与水循环变化机制所需的数据，并验证其应用价值。搭载于初代GCOM-W卫星的AMSR2将接续Aqua/AMSR-E的观测工作，对水汽、云液态水、降水、海表温度（Sea Surface Temperature, SST）、海表风速、海冰浓度、积雪深度及土壤湿度进行监测。
AMSR2是一款用于测量地球表面与大气微弱微波辐射的遥感仪器。该仪器在距地球约700公里的轨道上，可高精度获取微波辐射与散射强度数据。AMSR2的天线每1.5秒旋转一周，可实现1450公里幅宽的观测覆盖。这种圆锥扫描机制使得AMSR2每2天即可获取覆盖地球99%以上区域的日间与夜间观测数据集。
为高分辨率海表温度小组（Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature, GHRSST）项目提供海表温度数据的远程遥感系统（Remote Sensing Systems, RSS/REMSS）分两个阶段对AMSR2仪器数据开展精细化处理。第一阶段生成近实时（Near-Real-Time, NRT）产品（文件名中以"_rt_"标识），该产品会尽快发布，通常在数据记录后3小时内即可获取。尽管NRT产品可满足多数实时应用需求，但并非归档级质量数据。
"最终"产品（当前文件名中以"v7.2"标识）则在远程遥感系统获取国家环境预报中心（National Center for Environmental Prediction, NCEP）最终分析业务全球分析（Final Analysis Operational Global Analysis, FNL）大气模式数据后完成处理。NCEP风向数据对于反演更精准的海表温度与风速尤为关键。本数据集符合GHRSST数据处理规范（GHRSST Data Processing Specification, GDS）版本2的格式要求。