GHRSST Level 3U data provides global subskin sea surface temperature measurements from the GMI microwave radiometer onboard the GPM satellite. The dataset is produced by the Remote Sensing System (REMSS) using a Version-8 retrieval model and is available in near-real time with a 3 to 6-hour delay. Data products include daily, 3-day, weekly, and monthly time series.
Use Cases
- Modeling diurnal warming cycles using the subskin temperature measurements from the conical-scanning GMI instrument.
- Analyzing global SST trends over the mission's time series, leveraging the 65-degree inclined orbit for full local time sampling.
- Assimilating near-real-time SST fields into numerical weather prediction models for environmental forecasting.
- Calibrating or validating other satellite-derived SST products using the V8 brightness temperature retrieval methodology.
- Studying precipitation-SST correlations by integrating this dataset with other GPM mission precipitation measurements.
Strengths
- Data is available in near-real time with a latency of 3 to 6 hours.
- The satellite's 65-degree inclined orbit provides full sampling of all local Earth times.
- Products include multiple temporal aggregations: daily, 3-day, weekly, and monthly.
Limitations
- Specific row count, spatial resolution, and temporal coverage start date are not provided.
- The dataset relies on passive microwave radiometry, which can be affected by atmospheric conditions like heavy rain.
- The platform undergoes yaw maneuvers approximately every 40 days, which may introduce processing artifacts.
Provenance
- Source
- NASA Earthdata via POCLOUD, from the GMI instrument on the GPM satellite.
- Collection Method
- Satellite remote sensing using a dual-polarization, multi-channel, conical-scanning passive microwave radiometer.
- Time Range
- Mission launched February 27, xx; specific data start date unknown.
- Freshness
- Near-real-time updates with a 3 to 6-hour delay.
- Geography
- Global coverage.