Suomi-NPP VIIRS: Global Day/Night Sea Surface Temperature (NRT)

Suomi-NPP VIIRS Level-3 data provides global sea surface temperature (SST) derived primarily from thermal infrared observations. The near real-time (NRT) quicklook products offer a snapshot of data within a single orbit, useful for detecting ocean fronts and monitoring marine heatwaves. IR-based SST measurements are sensitive to clouds, aerosols, and diurnal warming effects.

Use Cases

• Detecting ocean fronts and eddies based on sea surface temperature gradients.
• Monitoring marine heatwaves using global, near real-time temperature data.
• Providing boundary conditions for biogeochemical and climate model analyses.
• Driving ecosystem and habitat models when paired with chlorophyll or PAR data.

Strengths

• Provides global, near real-time coverage of sea surface temperature.
• Includes a quality flag (qual_sst) to assist with data filtering and analysis.
• Designed for integration with other ocean variables (e.g., chlor_a, Kd_490, PAR) for ecosystem modeling.

Limitations

• Sparse column information; only two geophysical variables (sst, qual_sst) are explicitly listed.
• IR-based SST is sensitive to cloud cover, aerosols, and diurnal warming, which can affect data quality.
• Quicklook products use less-than-optimal ancillary data and calibration, as noted in one source description.

Provenance

Source

Ocean Biology DAAC (OB_DAAC)

Collection Method

Derived from Suomi-NPP VIIRS satellite thermal infrared observations.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to two platform entries.

Geography

Global