Satellite altimeters routinely supply sea surface height (SSH) measurements which are key observations to monitor ocean dynamics. However, below a wavelength of about 70 km, along-track altimeter measurements are often characterized by a dramatic drop in the signal-to-noise ratio, making it very challenging to fully exploit available altimeter observations to precisely analyze small mesoscale variations in SSH. Although various approaches have been proposed and applied to identify and filter noise from measurements, no distinctive methodology emerged to be systematically applied in operational products. To best cope with this unresolved issue, the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) actually provides simple band-pass filtered data to mitigate noise contamination in the along-track SSH signals and more innovative and adapted noise filtering methods are thus left to users seeking to unveil small-scale altimeter signals. Here demonstrated, a fully data-driven approach is developed and applied to provide robust estimates of noise-free Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) signals. The method combines Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD), to help analyze non-stationary and non-linear processes, and an adaptive noise filtering technique inspired by Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) decompositions. It is now found to best resolve the distribution of the sea surface height variability in the mesoscale 30-120 km wavelength band. A practical uncertainty variable is attached to the denoised SLA estimates that accounts for errors related to the local signal to noise ratio, but also for uncertainties in the denoising process, which assumes that SLA variability results in part from a stochastic process. Here, measurements from the Jason-3, Sentinel-3 A and SARAL/AltiKa altimeters are processed and analyzed, and their energy spectral and seasonal distributions characterized in the small mesoscale domain. Anticipating data from the upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, these denoised SLA measurements for three reference altimeter missions already yield valuable opportunities to assess global small mesoscale kinetic energy distributions. This dataset was developed within the Ocean Surface Topography Science Team (OSTST) activities. A grant was awarded to the SASSA (Satellite Altimeter Short-scale Signals Analysis) project by the TOSCA board in the framework of the CNES/EUMETSAT call CNES-DSP/OT 12-2118. Altimeter data were provided by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) and by the Sea State Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project.

The SWOT L3_LR_SSH product provides ocean topography measurements obtained from the SWOT KaRIn and nadir altimeter instruments, merged into a single variable. The dataset includes measurements from KaRIn swaths on both sides of the image, while the measurements from the nadir altimeter are located in the central columns. In the areas between the nadir track and the two KaRIn swaths, as well as on the outer edges of each swath (restricted to cross-track distances ranging from 10 to 60 km), default values are expected. SWOT L3_LR_SSH is a cross-calibrated product from multiple missions that contains only the ocean topography content necessary for thematic research (e.g., oceanography, geodesy) and related applications. This product is designed to be simple and ready-to-use, and can be combined with other altimetry missions. The SWOT L3_LR_SSH product is a research-orientated extension of the L2_LR_SSH product, distributed by the SWOT project (NASA/JPL and CNES). SWOT L3_LR_SSH is managed by the SWOT Science Team project DESMOS. The "Expert" version of SWOT L3_LR_SSH (the "Basic" version is the subject of a separate metadata sheet) includes each algorithm, correction, or external model incorporated into the SWOT L3_LR_SSH product as a separate layer. In addition to the SSH anomalies, this "Expert" version also includes mean dynamic topography (as in the "Basic" version), backscatter coefficient (sigma0), mean sea surface and geostrophic currents (absolute and anomalies).

The Level-2 Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) low rate (LR, ocean) sea surface height (SSH) data product from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, also referenced by the short name L2_LR_SSH, provides ocean topography measurements from the low rate ocean data stream of the KaRIn instrument, spanning 60 km on either side of the nadir altimeter with a nadir gap. The L2_LR_SSH product is available continuously and globally, although different versions of the product may be produced at different latencies and/or through different reprocessing with refined input data. Note that L2_LR_SSH does not include SSH data from the SWOT nadir altimeter. The SWOT L2_LR_SSH product is organized in four files, the L2_LR_SSH ['Unsmoothed'] is described in this metadata sheet. The 3 other file types (['Basic'], ['WindWave'], ['Expert']) are described by 3 different metadata sheets that can be accessed via the links below. The ['Unsmoothed'] file, also intended for expert users, is provided on a finer 'native' grid of 250-m (with minimal smoothing applied), and has a significantly larger data volume than the other files. The ['Basic'] file is intended for users who are interested in SSH measurements and who will use the KaRIn measurements as provided. The ['WindWave'] file is intended for users interested in wind and wave information. The ['Expert'] file is intended for expert users who are interested in the details of how the KaRIn measurements were derived and who may use detailed information for their own custom processing. The ['Unsmoothed'] L2_LR_SSH includes sea surface height (SSH) and sigma0 without additional smoothing relative to the native KaRIn downlink resolution on a ~250 m native (center-beam) grid. The Unsmoothed file contains two groups, left and right, each of which contains the data for half (one side from nadir) of the KaRIn swath. August 2024: V2.0 L2_LR_SSH version 2.0 (version C) products declared as validated by the SWOT project. March 2024: V2.0 Production and distribution of the pre-validated L2_LR_SSH version 2.0 (or version C) products: - PIC0 for forward-processed version C products: November 23, 2023 to present, - PGC0 for reprocessed version C products: - March 30 to July 10, 2023 (phase CalVal) and from July 26,2023 to January 25, 2024 (phase Science) November 2023: V1.0 The beta pre-validated L2_LR_SSH version 1.0 product (summer 2023 reprocessing release) is available only for the 1-day CalVal orbit phase, from March 29 to July 10, 2023, and the 21-day Science orbit phase from September 7 to November 21, 2023.

The SWOT L3_LR_SSH product provides ocean topography measurements obtained from the SWOT KaRIn and nadir altimeter instruments, merged into a single variable. The dataset includes measurements from KaRIn swaths on both sides of the image, while the measurements from the nadir altimeter are located in the central columns. In the areas between the nadir track and the two KaRIn swaths, as well as on the outer edges of each swath (restricted to cross-track distances ranging from 10 to 60 km), default values are expected. SWOT L3_LR_SSH is a cross-calibrated product from multiple missions that contains only the ocean topography content necessary for thematic research (e.g., oceanography, geodesy) and related applications. This product is designed to be simple and ready-to-use, and can be combined with other altimetry missions. The SWOT L3_LR_SSH product is a research-orientated extension of the L2_LR_SSH product, distributed by the SWOT project (NASA/JPL and CNES) and managed by the SWOT Science Team project DESMOS. The "Basic" version of SWOT L3_LR_SSH (the "Expert" version is the subject of a separate metadata sheet) includes only the SSH anomalies and mean dynamic topography.

The CTOH computes and distributes specific, coastal along-track sea level anomalies (SLA) using its X-TRACK processor over 23 regions, for all precise altimeter missions : Topex/Jason-1/Jason-2/Jason-3 (+ Interleaved orbits for Topex, Jason-1, Jason-2), ERS-1, ERS2, Envisat, SARAL/AltiKa, Geosat Follow On, HaiYang-2A and Sentinel-3A. The Sea Level Anomaly time series have been computed with the X-TRACK processing system (developed at CTOH/LEGOS) but, unlike the previous version of the X-TRACK dataset, this X-TRACK L2P dataset is computed from the Level 2 Plus (L2P) products distributed by CDS-SAT-AVISO. The X-TRACK L2P product is also more complete since in addition to the sea surface height anomalies, it contains the significant wave height and the backscatter coefficient. The applied altimetry corrections are also provided in this product.

The SWOT L3_LR_SSH product provides ocean topography measurements obtained from the SWOT KaRIn and nadir altimeter instruments, merged into a single variable. The dataset includes measurements from KaRIn swaths on both sides of the image, while the measurements from the nadir altimeter are located in the central columns. In the areas between the nadir track and the two KaRIn swaths, as well as on the outer edges of each swath (restricted to cross-track distances ranging from 10 to 60 km), default values are expected. SWOT L3_LR_SSH is a cross-calibrated product from multiple missions that contains only the ocean topography content necessary for thematic research (e.g., oceanography, geodesy) and related applications. This product is designed to be simple and ready-to-use, and can be combined with other altimetry missions. The SWOT L3_LR_SSH product is a research-orientated extension of the L2_LR_SSH product, distributed by the SWOT project (NASA/JPL and CNES). SWOT L3_LR_SSH is managed by the SWOT Science Team project DESMOS. The ['Unsmoothed'] version of SWOT L3_LR_SSH (the "Basic" and "Expert" versions are the subject of separate metadata sheets) includes each algorithm, correction, or external model incorporated into the SWOT L3_LR_SSH product as a separate layer. This ['Unsmoothed'] version which includes the MSS, MDT and geostrophic currents (absolute and anomalies) in addition to the SSHA and MDT on the 250 m KaRIn native grid. Like the Expert subproduct, it also integrates a quality flag, corrections and external models as separate layers.

The primary objective of the ESA Marine Atmosphere eXtreme Satellite Synergy (MAXSS) project is to provide guidance and innovative methodologies to maximize the synergetic use of available Earth Observation data (satellite, in situ) to improve understanding about the multi-scale dynamical characteristics of extreme air-sea interaction. This dataset, produced in the frame of MAXSS project, provides multi-variate observations for Arctic polar lows (PL), for a selection of storm tracks extracted from Rojo et al (2019) during the period 2010-2018. The observations are taken from more than 35 satellite, numerical model and in situ sources, providing the inner and surface ocean conditions for a comprehensive range of parameters (sea surface height, surface winds, waves, precipitation, temperature, salinity, ocean colour, ...) before, during and after the storm passage. Different colocation radii and time windows are used depending on the parameter and observation dataset. The assembled data are stored in a standardized NetCDF4 file format and organised per basin, year, and storm name to ease data manipulation for users that are not used to work with this wealth of data.