GHRSST L3C: Hourly Sea Surface Temperature for the America Region from GOES-16

GOES-16 satellite data provides hourly sea surface temperature (SST) measurements for the America Region (60S-60N, 135W-15W) on a 0.05-degree grid. The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF) produces these Level 3 Collated (L3C) products in near real time using a three-band algorithm from the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). This dataset, last updated on 2026-03-13, enables daytime SST calculations and corrects for atmospheric conditions using numerical weather prediction models.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean heat content and thermal fronts based on hourly, high-resolution SST data
• Assimilating near-real-time SST observations into weather and climate forecast models based on the described operational production
• Studiating diurnal warming cycles and short-term SST variability based on the hourly aggregation of 10-minute observations
• Detecting thin cirrus cloud contamination in satellite retrievals based on the use of the 8.4-um band mentioned in the algorithm description
• Correcting regional and seasonal atmospheric biases in SST retrievals using the described radiative transfer and NWP model approach

Strengths

• Provides daytime SST calculations, a capability not available from previous GOES East sensors
• Uses a three-band (8.4, 10.3, 12.3 um) algorithm for improved atmospheric correction and cirrus detection
• Data is remapped to a consistent 0.05-degree regular grid, facilitating spatial analysis
• Products are generated in near real time by an authoritative operational facility (EUMETSAT OSI SAF)

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count and total file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Spatial coverage is limited to the America Region (60S-60N, 135W-15W)

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration; processed by EUMETSAT Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF)

Collection Method

SST retrieved from the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on GOES-16, processed from 10-minute observations aggregated into hourly files on a 0.05-degree grid.

Time Range

Temporal coverage is not explicitly stated, but data is produced in near real time.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:34:22.757599; freshness should be verified

Geography

America Region: 60S to 60N latitude and 135W to 15W longitude.