GHRSST Level 3U: Global Subskin Sea Surface Temperature from NASA's AMSR-E Satellite

AMSR-E was launched on 4 May 2002 aboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft. Remote Sensing Systems provides these sea surface temperature data for the GHRSST Project, processing them in near-real-time (within 3 hours) and final versions using NCEP model inputs. The dataset adheres to the GHRSST Data Processing Specification (GDS) version 2 format.

Use Cases

• Modeling global ocean heat content based on cloud-penetrating microwave SST measurements.
• Assimilating sea surface temperature data into weather and climate forecasting models.
• Analyzing long-term SST trends and anomalies for climate change studies.
• Calibrating and validating other satellite or in-situ ocean temperature sensors.

Strengths

• Provides an uninterrupted view of global SST due to microwave capability to see through clouds.
• Offers both near-real-time (available within 3 hours) and final, archive-quality processing versions.
• Final data processing incorporates NCEP wind directions for more accurate SST and wind speed retrieval.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with instrument provided by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA).

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) on the Aqua spacecraft, processed by Remote Sensing Systems (RSS).

Time Range

Data collection began after the instrument's launch on 4 May 2002.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:33:14.813611; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage over the oceans.