MODIS Terra: Monthly Sea Surface Temperature Nighttime Maps at 4km

NASA's Terra satellite provides global skin sea surface temperature (SST) data from nighttime observations at 4.63 km resolution. The data is processed using a modified nonlinear SST algorithm from long-wave IR channels and a unique mid-IR SST4 product for lower uncertainty. The Level 3 products are generated by the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group and archived by JPL's Physical Oceanography Data Archive.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global ocean warming trends based on monthly averaged skin SST.
• Studying diurnal temperature variations by comparing day and night SST products.
• Validating other SST datasets using the lower uncertainty SST4 product derived from unique MODIS mid-IR channels.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of sea surface temperature using gridded data in an equidistant cylindrical projection.
• Assessing algorithm continuity by comparing MODIS SST with heritage and current NASA sensor data.

Strengths

• Provides two distinct SST products: skin SST and a lower uncertainty SST4 product available at night.
• Data is available at multiple temporal resolutions: daily, weekly (8-day), monthly, and annual.
• Spatial resolution options include both 4.63 km and 9.26 km grids.
• Algorithm development and quality flagging are handled by a dedicated team at RSMAS, indicating expert curation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The SST4 product, which has lower uncertainty, can only be produced at night due to sun glint constraints.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale statistical analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ocean Biology Processing Group

Collection Method

SST derived from Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra satellite, binned and mapped into an integerized sinusoidal area grid.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:25:19.516182; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global