GHRSST L3C: Global Sea Surface Temperature from Metop-A AVHRR Satellite

Global sea surface temperature data derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer on the Metop-A satellite, launched 19 Oct 2006. The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility produces this dataset in near real time. It is a Level 3 Collated product remapped onto a 0.05 degree grid twice daily, compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification version 2.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean heat content and climate trends based on twice-daily global sub-skin sea surface temperature measurements.
• Validating numerical weather prediction models based on satellite-derived sea surface temperature data corrected with atmospheric profiles.
• Studying diurnal and seasonal sea surface temperature variability based on the 0.05-degree resolution grid.
• Assimilating near-real-time sea surface temperature observations into ocean forecasting systems based on the GHRSST-compliant product.

Strengths

• Data is produced in near real time from an operational satellite platform.
• Spatial resolution is 0.05 degrees, and temporal resolution is twice daily.
• Atmospheric correction is applied using profiles from a numerical weather prediction model and a radiative transfer model.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and total dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset is derived from a single satellite sensor (AVHRR on Metop-A), which may introduce specific biases.

Provenance

Source

European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF).

Collection Method

SST retrieved from AVHRR infrared channels using a multispectral algorithm, with data acquired through the EUMETSAT/EUMETCAST system at Meteo-France/Centre de Meteorologie Spatiale.

Time Range

Covers period from at least the Metop-A launch date of 19 October 2006 onward.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:34:50.070069; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage.