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

A global sea surface temperature dataset derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer on the Metop-B satellite, launched 17 Sep 2012. The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF) produces this product in near real time, with data remapped onto a 0.05-degree grid twice daily. The product format complies with the GHRSST Data Specification version 2.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean heat content and climate patterns based on global, twice-daily sea surface temperature observations.
• Validating other satellite or in-situ sea surface temperature products based on the multispectral algorithm using AVHRR infrared channels.
• Studiating diurnal and seasonal sea surface temperature variability based on the 0.05-degree grid resolution.
• Assimilating near-real-time sea surface temperature data into numerical weather prediction and ocean forecasting models.

Strengths

• Data is produced in near real time, supporting operational monitoring.
• Uses a multispectral algorithm corrected with atmospheric profiles from a numerical weather prediction model to reduce regional and seasonal biases.
• Provides global coverage on a consistent 0.05-degree grid twice daily.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML projects.

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 atmospheric correction from a numerical weather prediction model.

Time Range

Covers period from at least the Metop-B satellite launch (17 Sep 2012) onward.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:34:27.343080; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage.