Altimetry product SWOT Level-3 Low Rate SSH - Technical

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 "Technical" version of SWOT L3_LR_SSH (the "Basic", "Expert" and "Unsmoothed" versions are the subject of separate metadata sheets) includes additional parameters and geophysical fields that may be of interest for certain applications or that provide an alternative solution to those used in the core (Basic/Expert) products.

Data and resources

SWOT L3_LR_SSH Technical

THREDDS

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Other document

Poster at SWOT Science Team 2023, Dibarboure et al. SWOT Level-3 Overview algorithms and examples

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Presentation at SWOT Science Team 2023, Dibarboure et al. SWOT Level-3 Overview algorithms and examples

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Software

SWOT Ocean data tutorials

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Other document

AVISO SWOT Orbit files (kml and shapefile) for the 1-day and 21-day orbits

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User guide

Product User Manual (handbook)

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Web link (URL)

Dibarboure, G., Anadon, C., Briol, F., Cadier, E., Chevrier, R., Delepoulle, A., Faugère, Y., Laloue, A., Morrow, R., Picot, N., Prandi, P., Pujol, M.-I.,…

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Product notices

SWOT L3LRSSH product: planned changes, rationale, expected improvements and known issues

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Web link (URL)

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

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Additional information

Temporal extent	2023-03-29 – ongoing
Date (creation)	2025-12-16
Date (publication)	2025-12-18
Status	onGoing
Update frequency	asNeeded
Metadata language	en
License	None
Source metadata	ISO 19115 XML
Last updated	2026-11-04
Created	2026-11-04
API	package_show