.. _l2c_output_usage:

L2C Output Usage
=================

This page illustrates how to use the output L2C products generated by ``topsocnww3sp``.

Loading the Product
-------------------

Since the product is stored in NetCDF groups, you can load it using ``xarray``:

.. code-block:: python

    import xarray as xr

    ds = xr.open_dataset("path/to/product_v0.1.nc", group="SAR_intraburst")
    # Load the corresponding WW3 data
    ds_ww3 = xr.open_dataset("path/to/product_v0.1.nc", group="WW3")

Comparing SAR and Model
-----------------------

The primary use of the L2C product is to compare observed ocean wave characteristics from S1 OSW with model spectra from WW3.

In ``lasso`` mode, you can iterate through all extracted spectra for a given subswath and perform spatial analysis or compute statistics within the footprint.

In mapping modes (1to1, unique, many), you can use the indices provided in the ``MATCH_MAP`` groups to align each SAR tile with its closest model spectrum accurately.