GHRSST OSTIA: Daily Global Sea Surface Temperature Analysis at 0.05° Resolution

A daily operational sea surface temperature analysis produced by the UK Met Office using optimal interpolation on a global 0.05x0.05 degree grid. The analysis integrates data from over 10 unique satellite sensors and in-situ sources from ships and buoys, specifically designed as a lower boundary condition for Numerical Weather Prediction models. This dataset is updated daily with a 24-hour nominal latency in Near Real Time mode.

Use Cases

• Assimilating lower boundary conditions for Numerical Weather Prediction models based on the daily, gridded SST analysis.
• Validating satellite-derived sea surface temperature products based on the multi-sensor fusion approach described.
• Analyzing global ocean temperature trends and anomalies based on the high-resolution 0.05° grid.
• Studying air-sea heat flux exchanges based on the foundation sea surface temperature data.

Strengths

• Integrates data from over 10 unique satellite sensors and in-situ platforms, suggesting broad source coverage.
• Provides daily updates on a global 0.05x0.05 degree grid, indicating high spatial and temporal resolution.
• Produced operationally by the UK Met Office with a 24-hour nominal latency for Near Real Time applications.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML projects.
• This is the operational product; a higher quality reprocessed version with more sensors exists but has biannual latency.

Provenance

Source

UK Met Office, aggregated by NASA.

Collection Method

Produced using optimal interpolation (OI) on satellite and in-situ data.

Time Range

Daily, ongoing.

Freshness

Updated daily with 24-hour latency; last metadata update was 2026-03-13.

Geography

Global.