GHRSST L3C: Hourly Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature from SEVIRI/MSG Satellites

GHRSST L3C hourly Atlantic reprocessed sub-skin sea surface temperature data record v1.0 is produced by the Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF) using the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) on MSG satellites. The dataset provides sea surface temperature fields on a 0.05-degree regular grid (60S-60N, 60W-60E), generated by aggregating 15-minute satellite observations into hourly files. The product format is compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification (GDS) version 2.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean heat content and climate variability based on hourly, gridded sea surface temperature data.
• Validating and calibrating numerical weather prediction models based on satellite-derived SST fields corrected with NWP data.
• Analyzing diurnal warming cycles and thermal fronts in the Atlantic Ocean based on high-temporal-resolution observations.
• Assimilating observational data into ocean reanalysis products based on the GHRSST-compliant, bias-corrected format.

Strengths

• Data is reprocessed in delayed-mode to correct for regional and seasonal biases using atmospheric profiles and radiative transfer modeling.
• Spatial resolution is high, with data remapped over a 0.05-degree regular grid.
• Temporal resolution is high, with products aggregating 15-minute observations into hourly files.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

SST retrieved from SEVIRI infrared channels using a multispectral algorithm, cloud mask, and corrected with NWP model data, OSTIA re-analysis, and RTTOV.

Time Range

Hourly files generated from 15-minute slots; specific temporal coverage is not stated.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:41:58.094019; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Eastern Atlantic Region, 60S-60N and 60W-60E.