IMOS provides a multi-sensor sea surface temperature (SSTskin) Level 3S product for daytime periods. The data is derived from VIIRS and AVHRR sensors on Suomi-NPP, JPSS, NOAA, and Metop satellites, composited into a 0.02-degree grid covering 70E to 170W, 20N to 70S. Each grid cell contains a one-day average of the highest quality SSTs, weighted by overlap area.
Use Cases
- Analyzing daily sea surface temperature patterns based on multi-sensor satellite composites.
- Validating ocean models using high-quality, weighted SST averages.
- Studying regional SST variability around Australia based on the 0.02-degree grid coverage.
- Comparing sensor performance from VIIRS and AVHRR platforms.
- Assessing SSTskin product quality using remapped Sensor Specific Error Statistics (SSES).
Strengths
- Data integrates multiple satellite sensors (VIIRS and AVHRR) for composite coverage.
- Provides a 0.02-degree x 0.02-degree cylindrical equidistant projected map.
- Each pixel's quality level is remapped using original ACSPO quality levels and Sensor Specific Error Statistics.
- Grid cells contain weighted averages based on the area of overlap of highest-quality SSTs.
Limitations
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Derived from sea surface temperature retrievals from VIIRS and AVHRR sensors on multiple satellite platforms.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-05 05:46:56.671718; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- 70E to 170W, 20N to 70S (region encompassing Australia)