GSSTFMC: Monthly Climatology of Ocean Surface Turbulent Fluxes at 1x1 Degree

Goddard Satellite-based Surface Turbulent Fluxes Version-2c (GSSTF2c) data, produced by a NASA MEaSURES project led by Dr. Chung-Lin Shie, are provided in a monthly climatology format. The data are projected onto a global equidistant grid with a 1x1 degree cell size, resulting in 360x180 data arrays. This version represents an upgrade from GSSTF2b, specifically addressing temporal trends in latent heat flux by correcting input satellite brightness temperature data.

Use Cases

• Modeling global ocean evaporation and freshwater input based on latent heat flux data.
• Analyzing climate variability at monthly and one-degree spatial scales based on the product's resolution.
• Studying ocean surface wind stress and sensible heat flux for turbulence and energy transfer research.
• Comparing satellite-derived turbulent flux products with other models or in-situ measurements.

Strengths

• Data is on a global 1x1 degree grid, providing complete spatial coverage.
• Version 2c specifically addresses and reduces artifactitious temporal trends found in prior version 2b.
• Product includes an extra grid of NCEP Climatology data for comparison.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• A finer 0.25-degree resolution version (Version 3) exists, making this a coarser product.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite-based retrieval algorithm using corrected SSM/I brightness temperatures.

Time Range

Monthly climatology (specific years not stated).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 01:48:22.986102; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage.