Global Sea Surface Skin Temperature from MODIS Aqua Satellite

288 five-minute data granules are produced daily, each with a 1 km spatial resolution at nadir. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ocean Biology Processing Group, and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science jointly produce this skin sea surface temperature data from the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite. Full global coverage is achieved every two days.

Use Cases

• Analyzing diurnal temperature variation by comparing the day/night skin SST (NSST) product with the night-only SST4 product.
• Tracking oceanic heat anomalies by mapping the 1 km resolution skin SST values across the global ocean.
• Assessing algorithm performance by comparing the uncertainty metrics between the long-wave IR-derived NSST and mid-IR-derived SST4.
• Studying polar ocean dynamics using the complete daily coverage available poleward of 32.3 degrees latitude.

Strengths

• Provides two distinct SST products: a day/night skin SST and a lower-uncertainty night-only SST4.
• Offers high spatial resolution of 1 km at nadir for detailed thermal mapping.
• Delivers full global coverage every two days, with daily coverage at higher latitudes.

Limitations

• The SST4 product, which has lower uncertainty, is only available for night observations due to sun glint interference.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and the exact temporal range of the current version are not provided in the input.

Provenance

Source

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG), Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS).

Collection Method

Derived from Infrared channels of the MODIS instrument on the NASA Aqua satellite, processed to the GHRSST L2P specification.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Global ocean coverage.