GHRSST Level 2P: Global 8.8 km Sea Surface Temperature from NOAA-19 AVHRR

A global sea surface temperature dataset produced in real-time from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer on the NOAA-19 satellite, launched 6 February 2009. The US Naval Oceanographic Office produces this data for operational oceanographic analyses and forecasts. The dataset is derived from Global Area Coverage data, resulting in a final resolution of 8.8 km.

Use Cases

• Assimilate real-time sea surface temperature observations into ocean forecast models based on the operational production described.
• Validate and calibrate higher-resolution satellite SST products based on the 8.8 km resolution data.
• Study diurnal warming and large-scale ocean heat content trends based on twice-daily sun-synchronous satellite coverage.
• Monitor thermal fronts and upwelling zones for fisheries and maritime operations based on global SST retrievals.

Strengths

• Data is produced in real-time for operational use, suggesting timeliness.
• Derived from an instrument with an operational legacy tracing back to 1978, indicating a mature methodology.
• Final dataset has a defined spatial resolution of 8.8 km.
• Based on AVHRR/3 instrument data, which includes a 6th spectral channel at 1.6 micrometer.

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The 8.8 km resolution is a product of averaging; original 1.1 km nadir resolution is not preserved in this dataset.

Provenance

Source

US Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO), using data from the NOAA-19 satellite operated by NOAA.

Collection Method

Multi-channel SST retrievals from AVHRR Global Area Coverage data, averaged and binned to 8.8 km resolution.

Time Range

Covers period from at least the NOAA-19 launch date (6 Feb 2009) onward.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:41:37.563294; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage.