CoastWatch
Dataset Summary
West Coast Regional Node

Home | Information | Data | El Niño | Software | Sites | Feedback | About Us


Blended Sea Surface Temperature

Program: NASA Earth Observing System (EOS), NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES), NOAA Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES)
Spacecraft: Aqua, NOAA GOES-10 and GOES-12, NOAA POES-17 and POES-18
Sensor: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Aqua, Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on POES, Imager on GOES, Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) on Aqua
Primary Geophysical Parameter: Sea Surface Temperature
Nominal Accuracy: Unknown
Spatial grid: 0.1 degrees longitude by 0.1 degrees latitude, geographic
Spatial coverage: Global
Temporal Coverage: 2002-07-04 to present
FGDC Metadata
Short Description:
NOAA CoastWatch provides a blended sea surface temperature (SST) product derived from both microwave and infrared sensors carried on multiple platforms. The microwave instrument can measure ocean temperatures even in the presence of clouds, though the resolution is a bit coarse when considering features typical of the coastal environment. These are complemented by the relatively fine measurements of the infrared sensors. The blended data are provided at moderate spatial resolution (~ 11 km) for the global ocean. Measurements are gathered by Japan's Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) instrument, a passive radiance sensor carried aboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft, the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on NOAA's POES spacecrafts, the Imager on NOAA's GOES spacecrafts, and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua spacecraft.
Technical Summary:
The source SST products used in the Blended SST are also offered through NOAA CoastWatch. AVHRR Global Area Coverage SST, GOES SST, MODIS Global SST, and AMSR-E SST are combined in a weighted mean to produce the blended SST product. Further information on the individual SST datasets, including processing information, is available in the respective Dataset Summary pages of the datasets. Weighting coefficients in the blended product are relative to the inverse square of the SST error of the associated dataset.

Data is made available at approximately 11km resolution for the global oceans. The data are mapped to an equal angle grid of 0.1 degrees latitude by 0.1 degrees longitude. The mapping uses simple arithmetic means to produce composite images of 5-day duration.
Disclaimer:
Despite our best efforts, incorrect data may often appear within near real time data sets. NOAA CoastWatch accepts no liability for use of these data products. It is recommended that these products NOT be used for navigation.
Acknowledgement:
If this data is used for presentation or publication, please acknowledge the NOAA CoastWatch Program, NOAA NESDIS Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, OceanColor Web.

^ Back to main page Privacy Policy | USDOC | NOAA | NESDIS | CoastWatch