MODIS Terra Level 3 SST Thermal IR Daily 9km Daytime V2019.0

NASA MODIS Terra Level 3 SST Thermal IR Daily 9km Daytime V2019.0 provides global skin sea surface temperature (SST) data derived from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer onboard the Terra satellite. The dataset includes daily, weekly, monthly, and annual averages at 4.63 and 9.26 km spatial resolution, processed by the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group. Terra was launched on December 18, 1999, and this version supersedes the previous v2014.1 datasets.

Use Cases

• Model global ocean heat content and climate trends based on daily and aggregated SST time series.
• Validate other satellite or in-situ SST measurements based on the MODIS-derived skin SST and SST4 products.
• Study diurnal SST variability using the separate daytime and nighttime observation products.
• Analyze spatial patterns of SST at a 9km resolution for regional oceanographic studies.

Strengths

• Provides two distinct SST products: a skin SST for day/night and a lower-uncertainty SST4 product available at night.
• Offers data at multiple temporal aggregations: daily, weekly (8-day), monthly, and annual.
• Available at two spatial resolutions: 4.63 km and 9.26 km.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The SST4 product, which has lower uncertainty, is only available at night due to sun glint constraints.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

SST derived from MODIS sensor data using modified nonlinear SST algorithms, binned and mapped into specific grid projections.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:26:23.140937; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global