GHRSST Level 2P: Global Sea Surface Temperature from Metop-A IASI Satellite

A global 1 km resolution sea surface temperature dataset produced in near real-time from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer on the Metop-A satellite. The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility generates these products, which provide global observations twice daily from a sun-synchronous mid-morning orbit. The dataset is compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification version 2.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean heat content and climate patterns based on global, twice-daily sea surface temperature observations.
• Calibrating and validating other satellite-derived SST products based on the 1 km resolution and IASI sensor specifications.
• Analyzing diurnal and seasonal SST variability based on the sun-synchronous orbit and near real-time production.
• Studying regional oceanographic features like eddies and fronts based on the 12 km horizontal resolution at nadir.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage with observations twice daily from a consistent sun-synchronous orbit.
• Offers a high horizontal resolution of 12 km at nadir from the IASI infrared sensor.
• Produced in near real-time by the authoritative EUMETSAT OSI SAF, ensuring operational relevance.
• Compliant with the standardized GHRSST Data Specification version 2 for interoperability.

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.
• The sensor's horizontal resolution degrades from 12 km at nadir up to 40 km across its swath.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

SST retrievals generated in real-time from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the Metop-A satellite by the IASI L2 processor at EUMETSAT.

Time Range

Observations began after the Metop-A satellite launch on 19 October 2006.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:33:49.729530; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global ocean coverage from a satellite swath width of about 2,200 km.