MODIS Aqua: Annual Nighttime Sea Surface Temperature at 4km Resolution

NASA's Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Aqua satellite provides global skin sea surface temperature (SST) data. The dataset includes annual, monthly, weekly, and daily averages at 4.63 and 9.26 km spatial resolution, with a specific nighttime product (SST4) derived from mid-infrared channels. The data is processed by the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, with the Aqua satellite launched on May 4, 2002.

Use Cases

• Modeling global ocean heat content and climate patterns based on spatially gridded annual skin SST.
• Validating other satellite or in-situ sea surface temperature measurements based on the MODIS mid-infrared (SST4) product with lower uncertainty.
• Studiating diurnal temperature cycles by comparing the available daytime and nighttime SST products.
• Analyzing long-term sea surface temperature trends from the time-series of daily, weekly, monthly, and annual composites.

Strengths

• Provides a specific nighttime SST product (SST4) derived from unique MODIS mid-infrared channels, noted for lower uncertainty.
• Offers data at multiple temporal scales (daily, weekly, monthly, annual) and two spatial resolutions (4.63 km and 9.26 km).
• Generated by authoritative sources: NASA's Ocean Biology Processing Group and algorithm developers at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The SST4 mid-infrared product is restricted to nighttime use only due to sun glint contamination during the day.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG), Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS).

Collection Method

Spatially gridded (Level 3) products generated from MODIS Aqua satellite L2 pixels, binned into an integerized sinusoidal area grid and mapped to an equidistant cylindrical projection.

Time Range

Coverage begins after the Aqua satellite launch on May 4, 2002; specific date range is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:57:35.155755; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global ocean coverage.