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

NASA's Aqua satellite, launched in 2002, provides daily global sea surface temperature (SST) measurements. The data includes a unique nighttime SST product derived from mid-infrared channels, which likely has lower uncertainty than the standard long-wave IR product. These Level 3 spatially gridded products are generated by the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group and algorithm developers at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Use Cases

• Modeling global ocean heat content and climate patterns based on daily skin sea surface temperature measurements.
• Validating other satellite or in-situ SST data sources using the unique mid-infrared (SST4) nighttime product.
• Studiating diurnal warming cycles by comparing the available daytime and nighttime SST products.
• Analyzing long-term SST trends from the Aqua satellite's record, which began in 2002.

Strengths

• Provides a unique nighttime SST product (SST4) from mid-infrared channels, which the description states has lower uncertainty.
• Data originates from NASA's MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite, an authoritative source launched on May 4, 2002.
• Available at multiple temporal resolutions (daily, 8-day, monthly, annual) and spatial resolutions (4.63 km and 9.26 km).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The mid-infrared SST4 product is only usable at night due to sun glint contamination during daytime.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale computational projects.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG)

Collection Method

Spatially gridded (Level 3) products binned from Level 2 pixel data captured by the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite.

Time Range

Coverage begins after the Aqua satellite launch on May 4,我们发现2002.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:57:08.264214; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global ocean coverage.