The main objective of the SWIM Level 3 (L3) product is to provide global gridded wave statistics from the along-track directional wave spectra measures, as observed with SWIM instrument onboard CFOSAT. CFOSAT (Chinese French Ocean SATellite) is a french-chinese mission launched in 2018, whose aim is to provide wind (SCAT instrument) and wave (SWIM instrument) measurements over the sea surface. The processing uses the integrated parameters (wave length, significant wave height, direction) of the wave systems associated with the individual partitions retrieved from SWIM wave spectra, computing monthly statistics such as distribution, min, max, mean and median over a global 2 degree resolution grid. Three sub-products are generated separately for each SWIM beam (from 4° to 10°) from respectively the SWIM Level 2 spectra produced by the CWWIC center (CNES), the SWIM Level 2S spectra produced by the IWWOC center (Ifremer) and forecast spectra produced from WaveWatch3 wave model at Ifremer as an independent source for comparison. The SWIM level 3 dataset is generated in delayed mode. It is currently mainly meant as a validation dataset aiming at inter-comparing the different SWIM Level 2 between each other, with an independent model (here WaveWatch3) or other external similar wave statistics products. The SWIM L3 dataset is generated and distributed by Ifremer / CERSAT in the frame of the Ifremer Wind and Wave Operation Center (IWWOC) co-funded by Ifremer and CNES and dedicated to the processing of the delayed mode data of CFOSAT mission.

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. SWOT launched on December 16, 2022 into a 1-day repeat orbit for the "calibration" or "fast-sampling" phase of the mission, which completed in early July 2023. After the calibration phase, SWOT entered a 21-day repeat orbit in August 2023 to start the "science" phase of the mission. The SWOT L2_LR_SSH product is organized in four files : ['Basic'], ['WindWave'], ['Expert'] and ['Unsmoothed'], each identified by its own DOI and described on a metadata sheet via the links below. - 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 ['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 ['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'] 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. Variables included: - Basic L2_LR_SSH includes corrected sea surface height (SSH), sea surface height anomaly (SSHA), data quality flags, geophysical reference fields, and height correction information on a 2 km geographically fixed grid. - WindWave L2_LR_SSH includes measured significant wave height (SWH), normalized radar cross section (NRCS or backscatter cross section or sigma0), wind speed derived from sigma0 and SWH, wind and wave model information, and quality flags on a 2 km geographically fixed grid. - Expert L2_LR_SSH, which includes copies of all variables in the Basic and WindWave files, plus more detailed information on the KaRIn instrument and environmental corrections, radiometer data, and geophysical models on a 2 km geographically fixed grid. - Unsmoothed L2_LR_SSH, which 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.