Suomi-NPP VIIRS: Global Nighttime Sea Surface Temperature Near Real-time Data

Nighttime sea surface temperature estimates derived from thermal infrared observations acquired during local night by the Suomi-NPP satellite. The Ocean Biology DAAC produces this near real-time product using the best-available ancillary meteorological and ozone data. The data provides a snapshot during a short time period within a single orbit.

Use Cases

• Detect ocean fronts based on sea surface temperature gradients.
• Support fisheries habitat models when paired with chlorophyll-a and PAR data.
• Provide stable inputs for climate analyses and air-sea flux calculations.

Strengths

• Nighttime observations minimize diurnal warming and sun glint effects.
• Includes a quality flag (qual_sst) to aid in data filtering.

Limitations

• Inputs and calibration are described as 'less than optimal' for the near real-time version.
• Uncertainties increase under thin clouds, heavy aerosols, or strong thermal gradients.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Ocean Biology DAAC (OB_DAAC) via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Derived from Suomi-NPP VIIRS satellite thermal infrared observations.

Freshness

Near real-time

Geography

Global