Global Sea Surface Temperature from NOAA-17 AVHRR Satellite

Data from 2002 onward provides global sea surface temperature (SST) measurements derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the NOAA-17 satellite. This GHRSST Level 2P dataset is produced and used operationally by the US Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO) for oceanographic analysis and forecasting. The sensor offers a swath width of approximately 2400 km and a ground resolution of 1.1 km at nadir.

Use Cases

• Validating and initializing ocean circulation and climate models using spatially detailed SST fields.
• Monitoring daily and seasonal thermal patterns in ocean surface waters for fisheries and ecosystem studies.
• Assimilating near-real-time SST observations into numerical weather prediction and ocean forecast systems.
• Studying long-term changes in global sea surface temperature linked to satellite records beginning in 1978.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution data with a ground resolution of 1.1 km at nadir and a wide 2400 km swath.
• Based on a long operational sensor legacy, with the AVHRR instrument series tracing back to 1978.
• Produced and used operationally by a major agency (US Naval Oceanographic Office) for analyses and forecasts.
• Dataset is hosted on multiple authoritative platforms (NASA Earthdata and Data.gov), indicating recognized importance.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts exist: the last updated date is reported as both 2009-07-06 and 2026-03-05 across sources.
• Specific data volume (row count, file size), column names, and license information are not provided by any source.
• The dataset description is duplicated verbatim across platforms, suggesting potential stale or automated metadata.

Provenance

Source

GHRSST data produced by the US Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO) from the NOAA-17 AVHRR sensor.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via multi-channel sea surface temperature retrievals from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer.

Time Range

2002 onward (NOAA 17 launched 24 June 2002), with sensor heritage from 1978.

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:41:30.030813

Geography

Global coverage.