A multi-tagged SAR ocean image dataset identifying atmospheric boundary layer structure in winter tradewind conditions

Abstract

A dataset of multi-tagged sea surface roughness synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images was established near Barbados from January to June 2016 to 2019. It is an advancement of the Sentinel-1 Wave Mode TenGeoP-SARwv (a labelled SAR imagery dataset of 10 geophysical phenomena from Sentinel-1 wave mode) dataset that targets SAR marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) coherent structures. Twelve tags define roll vortices, convective cells, mixed rolls and convective cells, fronts, rain cells, cold pools and low winds. Examples are provided for each signature. The final dataset is comprised of 2100 Sentinel-1 wave mode SAR images acquired at 36 incidence angle over an 8° × 8°region centered at 51° W, 15° N. Each image is tagged with one or multiple phenomena by five experts. This strategy extends the TenGeoP-SARwv by identifying coexisting phenomena within a single SAR image and by the addition of mixed roll/cell states and cold pools. The dataset includes PNG-formatted SAR image files along with two text files containing the file name, the central latitude/longitude, expert tags for each image, and all dataset metadata. There is a high degree of consensus among expert tags. The dataset complements existing hand-labelled ocean SAR image datasets and offers the potential for new deep-learning SAR image classification model developments. Future use is also expected to yield new insights into the tradewind MABL processes such as structure transitions and their relation to the stratification.