VIIRS Satellite Sea Surface Temperature Gridded Data

144 daily 10-minute granules provide sea surface temperature measurements from the Suomi NPP satellite, processed by NOAA STAR using the ACSPO algorithm. The dataset, updated to version 2.80 in March 2026, has a daily volume of 0.5GB and follows GHRSST GDS2 specifications.

Use Cases

• Analyzing sea surface temperature (SST) patterns and anomalies using the SST layer.
• Identifying environmental conditions like ice cover or solar glint using the l2p_flags subset, which includes day/night, land, ice, twilight, and glint flags.
• Evaluating sensor performance and error by examining the Sensor-Specific Error Statistics (SSES bias and standard deviation) layers.
• Comparing satellite-derived SST against a reference model using the ACSPO SST minus reference layer.
• Studying ocean-atmosphere interactions by correlating SST values with reported wind speed data.

Strengths

• All valid SST pixels have a quality level (QL) of 5, ensuring high data reliability.
• The product is validated against in situ data from iQuam within the SQUAM monitoring system.
• Algorithm improvements in v2.80 include mitigated warm biases in high latitudes and an improved clear-sky mask.
• Provides 144 spatially gridded granules per day, offering high temporal resolution.

Limitations

• Data coverage excludes pixels more than 5 km inland, limiting analysis near coastlines.
• Platforms disagree on update status; one lists a 2026 date while another shows no update information.
• The dataset's large daily volume (0.5GB) requires significant storage and processing capacity.

Provenance

Source

NOAA STAR, derived from the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite.

Collection Method

Gridded from the ACSPO NPP/VIIRS L2P product, following GHRSST Data Specification version 2.

Time Range

From the launch of Suomi NPP on October 28, 2011 onward.

Freshness

2026-03-13

Geography

Global coverage of ocean, sea, lake, and river pixels, extending up to 5 km inland.