GHRSST AMSR2 v8.2: Global Subskin Sea Surface Temperature from Satellite

AMSR2, launched on 18 May 2012, provides a "Final" Level-2 Sea Surface Temperature product for the GHRSST Project. The instrument's conical scan mechanism enables data acquisition with more than 99% coverage of the Earth every 2 days over a 1450 km swath. This v8.2 dataset, produced by Remote Sensing Systems and NASA, supersedes the previous v8a version.

Use Cases

• Modeling climate variation mechanisms based on global sea surface temperature observations.
• Analyzing water cycle variations based on long-term, consistent satellite-derived SST data.
• Validating atmospheric and oceanic models based on SST data refined with NCEP wind direction inputs.
• Monitoring global ocean temperature trends based on near-daily Earth coverage.

Strengths

• Provides more than 99% coverage of the Earth's surface every 2 days.
• Data is refined using atmospheric model inputs from NCEP Final Analysis for more accurate SSTs.
• Continues a long-term observation series from the Aqua/AMSR-E mission.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Remote Sensing Systems (RSS/REMSS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Collection Method

Derived from microwave emissions measured by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) onboard the JAXA GCOM-W satellite.

Time Range

Observations began after the instrument's launch on 18 May 2012.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:41:23.856372; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage.