IMOS SST: Single-Sensor Monthly Nighttime Sea Surface Temperature Averages for Australia

A 0.02° x 0.02° gridded map of sea surface temperature skin (SSTskin) for the region 70°E to 170°W, 20°N to 70°S. The data represents one month of consecutive nighttime averages, derived from AVHRR instruments on NOAA polar-orbiting satellites and weighted by area of overlap. Production of this single-sensor product ceased in June 2025 due to satellite decommissioning.

Use Cases

• Validating ocean climate models based on satellite-derived SSTskin measurements.
• Analyzing regional sea surface temperature patterns for Australia and surrounding waters based on the 0.02° gridded map.
• Studying diurnal temperature cycles using the specified nighttime-only data collection.
• Assessing sensor-specific biases in SST products, as this is a single-sensor dataset.

Strengths

• The product has documented accuracy, with 2014 biases reported as < 0.05°C and standard deviations of 0.6°C against buoy observations.
• Data is provided on a consistent 0.02° x 0.02° cylindrical equidistant grid covering a large region of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• The description references specific scientific documentation (Beggs et al., 2013) and a product diagram for context.

Limitations

• Production of this specific single-sensor product ceased in June 2025, limiting its use for current or future analysis.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset's temporal coverage is for one unspecified month, and the row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN) via IMOS, derived from AVHRR instruments on NOAA polar-orbiting satellites.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing; each grid cell contains the 1-month average of highest-quality SSTs weighted by area of overlap.

Time Range

Covers one month of consecutive nighttime periods; specific month is not stated in the input.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-13 20:14:04.167653; however, data production ended in June 2025.

Geography

Region 70°E to 170°W, 20°N to 70°S (covering waters around Australia and the South Pacific).