MODIS Aqua: Global Sea Surface Temperature at 9km Resolution

Global spatially gridded skin sea surface temperature (SST) data from NASA's MODIS Aqua satellite. The dataset includes 8-day averaged nighttime products at 9.26 km resolution, derived from infrared spectral bands, and is processed by the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group. Aqua was launched on May 4, 2002, into a sun-synchronous orbit.

Use Cases

• Monitoring long-term ocean warming trends based on 8-day averaged skin SST.
• Validating climate models using spatially gridded global temperature data.
• Studying diurnal temperature variations by comparing day and night SST products.
• Analyzing regional ocean heat content based on the lower-uncertainty nighttime SST4 product.

Strengths

• Data originates from NASA's MODIS Aqua satellite, an authoritative source launched in 2002.
• Provides two distinct SST products: standard skin SST and a lower-uncertainty nighttime SST4.
• Offers data at multiple temporal scales (daily, 8-day, monthly, annual) and spatial resolutions (4.63 km and 9.26 km).
• Processed by the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group and algorithm team at RSMAS.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing data from MODIS Aqua, binned and mapped into an integerized sinusoidal area grid.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:56:36.778661; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global.