NASA produces skin sea surface temperature (SST) products from the Infrared (IR) channels of the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra satellite. Terra was launched by NASA on December 18, 1999, into a sun synchronous, polar orbit with a daylight descending node at 10:30 am, to study the global dynamics of the Earth atmosphere, land and oceans. The MODIS captures data in 36 spectral bands at a variety of spatial resolutions. Two SST products can be present in these files. The first is a skin SST produced for both day and night observations, derived from the long wave IR 11 and 12 micron wavelength channels, using a modified nonlinear SST algorithm intended to provide continuity with SST derived from heritage and current NASA sensors. At night, a second SST product is produced using the mid-infrared 3.95 and 4.05 micron channels which are unique to MODIS; the SST derived from these measurements is identified as SST4. The SST4 product has lower uncertainty, but due to sun glint can only be produced at night. MODIS L2P SST data have a 1 km spatial resolution at nadir and are stored in 288 five minute granules per day. Full global coverage is obtained every two days, with coverage poleward of 32.3 degree being complete each day. The production of MODIS L2P SST files is part of the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) project, and is a joint collaboration between the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG), and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). Researchers at RSMAS are responsible for SST algorithm development, error statistics and quality flagging, while the OBPG, as the NASA ground data system, is responsible for the production of daily MODIS ocean products. JPL acquires MODIS ocean granules from the OBPG and reformats them to the GHRSST L2P netCDF specification with complete metadata and ancillary variables, and distributes the data as the official Physical Oceanography Data Archive (PO.DAAC) for SST. The R2019.0 supersedes the previous R2014.0 datasets which can be found at https://doi.org/10.5067/GHMDT-2PJ02

A global Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Level 3 Collated (L3C) dataset derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the European Meteorological Operational-B (MetOp-B) platform (launched 17 Sep 2012). The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF) is producing SST products in near real time from Metop/AVHRR. Global AVHRR level 1b data are acquired at Meteo-France/Centre de Meteorologie Spatiale (CMS) through the EUMETSAT/EUMETCAST system. SST is retrieved from the AVHRR infrared channels (3.7, 10.8 and 12.0 micrometer) using a multispectral algorithm. Atmospheric profiles of water vapor and temperature from a numerical weather prediction model, together with a radiatiave transfer model, are used to correct the multispectral algorithm for regional and seasonal biases due to changing atmospheric conditions. This global L3C product is derived from full resolution AVHRR l1b data that are re-mapped onto a 0.05 degree grid twice daily. The product format is compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification (GDS) version 2. Version Description:

NOAA-20 (N20/JPSS-1/J1) is the second satellite in the US NOAA latest generation Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). N20 was launched on November 18, 2017. In conjunction with the first US satellite in JPSS series, Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite launched on October 28, 2011, N20 form the new NOAA polar constellation. NOAA is responsible for all JPSS products, including SST from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). VIIRS is a whiskbroom scanning radiometer, which takes measurements in the cross-track direction within a field of view of 112.56-deg using 16 detectors and a double-sided mirror assembly. At a nominal altitude of 829 km, the swath width is 3,060 km, providing global daily coverage for both day and night passes. VIIRS has 22 spectral bands, covering the spectrum from 0.4-12 um, including 16 moderate resolution bands (M-bands). The L2P SST product is derived at the native sensor resolution (~0.75 km at nadir, ~1.5 km at swath edge) using NOAA's Advanced Clear-Sky Processor for Ocean (ACSPO) system, and reported in 10 minute granules in netCDF4 format, compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification version 2 (GDS2). There are 144 granules per 24hr interval, with a total data volume of 27GB/day. In addition to pixel-level earth locations, Sun-sensor geometry, and ancillary data from the NCEP global weather forecast, ACSPO outputs include four brightness temperatures (BTs) in M12 (3.7um), M14 (8.6um), M15 (11um), and M16 (12um) bands, and two reflectances in M5 (0.67um) and M7 (0.87um) bands. The reflectances are used for cloud identification. Beginning with ACSPO v2.60, all BTs and reflectances are destriped (Bouali and Ignatov, 2014) and resampled (Gladkova et al., 2016), to minimize the effect of bow-tie distortions and deletions. SSTs are retrieved from destriped BTs. SSTs are derived from BTs using the Multi-Channel SST (MCSST; night) and Non-Linear SST (NLSST; day) algorithms (Petrenko et al., 2014). ACSPO clear-sky mask (ACSM) is provided in each pixel as part of variable l2p_flags, which also includes day/night, land, ice, twilight, and glint flags (Petrenko et al., 2010). Fill values are reported in all pixels with >5 km inland. For each valid water pixel (defined as ocean, sea, lake or river, and up to 5 km inland), four BTs in M12/14/15/16 (included for those users interested in direct "radiance assimilation", e.g., NOAA NCEP, NASA GMAO, ECMWF) and two refelctances in M5/7 are reported, along with derived SST. Other variables include NCEP wind speed and ACSPO SST minus reference SST (Canadian Met Centre 0.1deg L4 SST; available at https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/CMC0.1deg-CMC-L4-GLOB-v3.0). Only ACSM confidently clear pixels are recommended (equivalent to GDS2 quality level=5). Per GDS2 specifications, two additional Sensor-Specific Error Statistics layers (SSES bias and standard deviation) are reported in each pixel with QL=5. Note that users of ACSPO data have the flexibility to ignore the ACSM and derive their own clear-sky mask, and apply it to BTs and SSTs. They may also ignore ACSPO SSTs, and derive their own SSTs from the original BTs. The L2P product is monitored and validated against quality controlled in situ data provided by NOAA in situ SST Quality Monitor system (iQuam; Xu and Ignatov, 2014), using another NOAA system, SST Quality Monitor (SQUAM; Dash et al, 2010). Corresponding clear-sky BTs are validated against RTM simulation in the Monitoring IR Clear-sky Radiances over Ocean for SST system (MICROS; Liang and Ignatov, 2011). A reduced size (1GB/day), equal-angle gridded (0.02-deg), ACSPO L3U product is also available at https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/VIIRS_N20-OSPO-L3U-v2.61, where gridded L2P SSTs with QL=5 only are reported, and BT layers omitted.

A Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Level 4 sea surface temperature analysis, produced daily on an operational basis at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) using optimal interpolation (OI) on a global 0.25 degree grid. This Global Australian Multi-Sensor SST Analysis (GAMSSA) v1.0 system blends satellite SST observations from passive infrared and passive microwave radiometers with in situ data from ships, drifting buoys and moorings from the Global Telecommunications System (GTS). SST observations that have experienced recent surface wind speeds less than 6 m/s during the day or less than 2 m/s during night are rejected from the analysis. The processing results in daily foundation SST estimates that are largely free of nocturnal cooling and diurnal warming effects. Sea ice concentrations are supplied by the NOAA/NCEP 12.7 km sea ice analysis. In the absence of observations, the analysis relaxes to the Reynolds and Smith (1994) Monthly 1 degree SST climatology for 1961 - 1990. Version Description:

A Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Level 4 sea surface temperature analysis produced daily on an operational basis at the UK Met Office using optimal interpolation (OI) on a global 0.054 degree grid. The Operational Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Ice Analysis (OSTIA) analysis uses satellite data from sensors that include the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR), the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI), the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSRE), the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Microwave Imager (TMI), and in situ data from drifting and moored buoys. This analysis has a highly smoothed SST field and was specifically produced to support SST data assimilation into Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) is a well calibrated passive microwave radiometer, similar to the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I), that contains lower frequency channels required for sea surface temperature (SST) retrievals. The TRMM is part of the NASA's mission to planet Earth, and is a joint venture between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to measure precipitation, water vapor, sea surface temperature (SST) and surface wind in the global tropical regions and was launched in 27 November 1997 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Tanegashima, Japan. The TRMM satellite travels west to east in a 402 km altitude semi-equatorial processing orbit that results in day-to-day changes in the observation time of any given earth location between 38S and 38N. Remote Sensing Systems (REMSS) has produced a Version-7.1a TMI SST dataset for the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) by applying an algorithm to the 10.7 GHz channel through a removal of surface roughness effects. In contrast to infrared SST observations, microwave retrievals can be measured through clouds, which are nearly transparent at 10.7 GHz. Microwave retrievals are also insensitive to water vapor and aerosols. The algorithm for retrieving SSTs from radiometer data is described in "AMSR Ocean Algorithm."

A global Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Level 3 Collated (L3C) dataset derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the European Meteorological Operational-A (MetOp-A) platform (launched 19 Oct 2006). The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF) is producing SST products in near real time from Metop/AVHRR. Global AVHRR level 1b data are acquired at Meteo-France/Centre de Meteorologie Spatiale (CMS) through the EUMETSAT/EUMETCAST system. SST is retrieved from the AVHRR infrared channels (3.7, 10.8 and 12.0 micrometer) using a multispectral algorithm. Atmospheric profiles of water vapor and temperature from a numerical weather prediction model, together with a radiatiave transfer model, are used to correct the multispectral algorithm for regional and seasonal biases due to changing atmospheric conditions. This global L3C product is derived from full resolution AVHRR l1b data that are re-mapped onto a 0.05 degree grid twice daily. The product format is compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification (GDS) version 2.

The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF) is producing SST products in near realtime from Metop/AVHRR. Global AVHRR level 1b data are acquired at Meteo-France/Centre de Meteorologie Spatiale (CMS) through the EUMETSAT/EUMETCAST system. SST is retrieved from the AVHRR infrared channels (3.7, 10.8 and 12.0 m) using a multispectral algorithm. Atmospheric profiles of water vapor and temperature from a numerical weather prediction model, together with a radiative transfer model, are used to correct the multispectral algorithm for regional and seasonal biases due to changing atmospheric conditions. This product is delivered at full resolution in satellite projection as metagranule corresponding to 3 minutes of acquisition. The product format is compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification (GDS) version 2.

GDS2 Version -The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) was launched on 18 May 2012, onboard the Golbal Change Observation Mission - Water (GCOM-W) satellite developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The GCOM-W mission aims to establish the global and long-term observation system to collect data, which is needed to understand mechanisms of climate and water cycle variations, and demonstrate its utilization. AMSR2 onboard the first generation of the GCOM-W satellite will continue Aqua/AMSR-E observations of water vapor, cloud liquid water, precipitation, SST, sea surface wind speed, sea ice concentration, snow depth, and soil moisture. AMSR2 is a remote sensing instrument for measuring weak microwave emission from the surface and the atmosphere of the Earth. From about 700 km above the Earth, AMSR2 will provide us highly accurate measurements of the intensity of microwave emission and scattering. The antenna of AMSR2 rotates once per 1.5 seconds and obtains data over a 1450 km swath. This conical scan mechanism enables AMSR2 to acquire a set of daytime and nighttime data with more than 99% coverage of the Earth every 2 days. Remote Sensing Systems (RSS, or REMSS), providers of these SST data for the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Project, performs a detailed processing of AMSR-E instrument data in two stages. The first stage produces a near-real-time (NRT) product (identified by "rt" within the file name) which is made as available as soon as possible. This is generally within 3 hours of when the data are recorded. Although suitable for many timely uses the NRT products are not intended to be archive quality. "Final" data (currently identified by "v8" within the file name) are processed when RSS receives the atmospheric mode NCEP FNL analysis. The NCEP wind directions are particularly useful for retrieving more accurate SSTs and wind speeds. The final "v8" products will continue to accumulate new swaths (half orbits) until the maps are full, generally within 2 days.

A Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) dataset for the North Atlantic Region (NAR) derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the European Meteorological Operational-B (MetOp-B) platform (launched 17 Sep 2012). The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF) is producing SST products in near real time from Metop/AVHRR and SNPP/VIIRS. Global AVHRR level 1b data are acquired at Meteo- France/Centre de Meteorologie Spatiale (CMS) through the EUMETSAT/EUMETCAST system. NAR SNPP/VIIRS level 0 data are acquired through direct readout and converted into l1b at CMS. SST is retrieved from the AVHRR and VIIRS infrared channels using a multispectral algorithm. This product is delivered as four six hourly collated files per day on a regular 2km grid. The product format is compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification (GDS) version 2.