NOAA GHRSST L2P: Atlantic Ocean Sea Surface Temperature from Meteosat-11 Satellite

Atlantic Ocean region sea surface temperature data produced by NOAA NESDIS from the SEVIRI instrument on the Meteosat-11 satellite. The dataset provides measurements at approximately 3 km resolution with a 15-minute duty cycle, covering the period from September 10, 2018, to March 24, 2023. It follows the GHRSST Data Processing Specification version 2.0 format and includes Single Sensor Error Statistics for uncertainty.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean-atmosphere heat exchange based on high-frequency 15-minute SST measurements.
• Analyzing diurnal warming cycles in the Atlantic Ocean based on the dataset's temporal resolution.
• Validating climate and weather forecast models using satellite-derived SST with associated uncertainty statistics.
• Studying regional climate patterns and anomalies in the Atlantic based on multi-year, full-disk coverage.

Strengths

• High temporal resolution with a 15-minute duty cycle for observing rapid changes.
• Approximately 3 km spatial resolution providing detailed regional coverage.
• Includes Single Sensor Error Statistics (uncertainty metrics) following the GHRSST GDS 2.0 standard.
• Covers a multi-year time range from September 2018 to March 2023.

Limitations

• Granules before December 1, 2022, contain some uncorrected metadata errors.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The satellite platform and data production role changed in March 2023, which may affect continuity.

Provenance

Source

US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS).

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) on the Meteosat-11 (MSG4) satellite.

Time Range

September 10, - 2018 to March 24, 2023 (for the MSG04 product).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:18:08.505301; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Full disk coverage of the Atlantic Ocean region from the satellite position at 0.0°E longitude.