These files contain NASA produced skin sea surface temperature (SST) products from the Infrared (IR) channels of the Visible and Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the Suomi-NPP satellite. VIIRS is a multi-disciplinary instrument that is also being flown on the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) series of spacecraft, of which NOAA-20 is the first. JPSS is a multi-agency program that consolidates the polar orbiting spacecraft of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Suomi-NPP is the initial spacecraft in this series, and VIIRS is the successor to MODIS for Earth science data. VIIRS has 22 spectral bands ranging from 412 nm to 12 micron . There are 16 moderate-resolution bands (750m at nadir), 5 image-resolution bands (375 m), and one day-night band (DNB). VIIRS uses on-board pixel aggregation to reduce the growth in size of pixels away from nadir. Two SST products are contained in these files. The first is a skin SST produced separately for 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 of SST products from heritage and current NASA sensors. At night, a second triple channel SST product is generated using the 3.7 , 11 and 12 micron IR channels, identified as SST_triple. Due to the sun glint in the 3.7 micron SST_triple can only be used at night. VIIRS L2P SST data have a 750 spatial resolution at nadir and are stored in ~288 five minute granules per day. Full global coverage is obtained each day. The production of VIIRS NASA 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 were responsible for sea surface temperature algorithm development, error statistics and quality flagging, while the OBPG, as the NASA ground data system, is responsible for the production of VIIRS ocean products. JPL acquires VIIRS ocean granules from the OBPG and reformats them to the GHRSST L2P netCDF specification with complete metadata and is the official Physical Oceanography Data Archive (PO.DAAC) for SST. In mid-August, 2018, the RSMAS involvement in the VIIRS SST project ceased, and the subsequent fields are not maintained.The R2016.2 supersedes the previous v2016.0 datasets which can be found at https://doi.org/10.5067/GHVRS-2PN16

A Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) dataset for the North Atlantic Region (NAR) from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the NOAA-19 platform (launched 6 Feb 2009). This particular dataset is produced by the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF) in France. The AVHRR is a space-borne scanning sensor on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) family of Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) having a operational legacy that traces back to the Television Infrared Observation Satellite-N (TIROS-N) launched in 1978. AVHRR instruments measure the radiance of the Earth in 5 (or 6) relatively wide spectral bands. The first two are centered around the red (0.6 micrometer) and near-infrared (0.9 micrometer) regions, the third one is located around 3.5 micrometer, and the last two sample the emitted thermal radiation, around 11 and 12 micrometers, respectively. The legacy 5 band instrument is known as AVHRR/2 while the more recent version, the AVHRR/3 (first carried on the NOAA-15 platform), acquires data in a 6th channel located at 1.6 micrometer. Typically the 11 and 12 micron channels are used to derive sea surface temperature (SST) sometimes in combination with the 3.5 micron channel. The highest ground resolution that can be obtained from the current AVHRR instruments is 1.1 km at nadir. The NOAA-19 platform is sun synchronous generally viewing the same earth location twice a day (latitude dependent) due to the relatively large AVHRR swath of approximately 2400 km. The NAR products are SST fields derived from 1km AVHRR data that are re-mapped onto a 0.02 degree equal angle grid. In the processing chain, global AVHRR level 1b data are acquired at Centre de Meteorologie Spatiale (CMS) through the EUMETSAT/EUMETCAST system. A cloud mask is applied and SST is retrieved from the AVHRR infrared (IR) channels by using a multispectral technique. This dataset adheres to the GHRSST Data Processing Specification (GDS) version 2 format specifications.

A Group for HIgh Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) dataset for the North Atlantic Region (NAR) from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the NOAA-19 platform (launched 6 Feb 2009). This particular dataset is produced by the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF) in France. The AVHRR is a space-borne scanning sensor on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) family of Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) having a operational legacy that traces back to the Television Infrared Observation Satellite-N (TIROS-N) launched in 1978. AVHRR instruments measure the radiance of the Earth in 5 (or 6) relatively wide spectral bands. The first two are centered around the red (0.6 micrometer) and near-infrared (0.9 micrometer) regions, the third one is located around 3.5 micrometer, and the last two sample the emitted thermal radiation, around 11 and 12 micrometers, respectively. The legacy 5 band instrument is known as AVHRR/2 while the more recent version, the AVHRR/3 (first carried on the NOAA-15 platform), acquires data in a 6th channel located at 1.6 micrometer. Typically the 11 and 12 micron channels are used to derive sea surface temperature (SST) sometimes in combination with the 3.5 micron channel. The highest ground resolution that can be obtained from the current AVHRR instruments is 1.1 km at nadir. The MetOp-A platform is sun synchronous generally viewing the same earth location twice a day (latitude dependent) due to the relatively large AVHRR swath of approximately 2400 km. The NAR products are SST fields derived from 1km AVHRR data that are re-mapped onto a 0.02 degree equal angle grid. In the processing chain, global AVHRR level 1b data are acquired at Centre de Meteorologie Spatiale (CMS) through the EUMETSAT/EUMETCAST system. A cloud mask is applied and SST is retrieved from the AVHRR infrared (IR) channels by using a multispectral technique. The NOAA-19 SST L3P data are compliant with the Group for High Resolution SST (GHRSST) Data Specification (GDS) version 1.7.

NOAA-20 (hereafter, N20; also known as JPSS-1 or J1 prior to launch) is the second satellite in the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (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. The ACSPO N20/VIIRS L3U (Level 3 Uncollated) product is a gridded version of the ACSPO N20/VIIRS L2P product available here https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/VIIRS_N20-OSPO-L2P-v2.61. The L3U output files are 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 500MB/day. Fill values are reported at all invalid pixels, including pixels with >5 km inland. For each valid water pixel (defined as ocean, sea, lake or river, and up to 5 km inland), the following layers are reported: SSTs, ACSPO clear-sky mask (ACSM; provided in each grid as part of l2p_flags, which also includes day/night, land, ice, twilight, and glint flags), NCEP wind speed, and ACSPO SST minus reference (Canadian Met Centre 0.1deg L4 SST; available at https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/CMC0.1deg-CMC-L4-GLOB-v3.0 ). Only L2P SSTs with QL=5 were gridded, so all valid SSTs are recommended for the users. Per GDS2 specifications, two additional Sensor-Specific Error Statistics layers (SSES bias and standard deviation) are reported in each pixel with valid SST. The ACSPO VIIRS L3U product is monitored and validated against iQuam in situ data (Xu and Ignatov, 2014) in SQUAM (Dash et al, 2010). Version Description:

This L3U (Level 3 Uncollated) dataset contains global daily Sea Surface Temperature (SST) on a 0.02 degree grid resolution. It is produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Clear Sky Processor for Ocean (ACSPO) using L2P (Level 2 Preprocessed) product acquired from the Meteorological Operational satellite A (Metop-A) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer 3 (AVHRR/3) (https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/AVHRRF_MA-STAR-L2P-v2.80 ) in Full Resolution Area Coverage (FRAC) mode as input. It is distributed as 10-minute granules in netCDF-4 format, compliant with the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Data Specification version 2 (GDS2). There are 144 granules per 24-hour interval. Fill values are reported in all invalid pixels, including land pixels with >5 km inland. For each valid water pixel (defined as ocean, sea, lake or river), and up to 5 km inland, the following major layers are reported: SSTs and ACSPO clear-sky mask (ACSM; provided in each grid as part of l2p_flags, which also includes day/night, land, ice, twilight, and glint flags). Only input L2P SSTs with QL=5 were gridded, so all valid SSTs are recommended for the users. Per GDS2 specifications, two additional Sensor-Specific Error Statistics layers (SSES bias and standard deviation) are reported in each pixel with valid SST. Ancillary layers include wind speed and ACSPO minus reference Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC) Level 4 (L4) SST. The ACSPO Metop-A AVHRR FRAC L3U product is monitored and validated against iQuam in situ data (Xu and Ignatov, 2014) in the NOAA SST Quality Monitor (SQUAM) system (Dash et al, 2010). SST imagery and clear-sky mask are evaluated, and checked for consistency with L2P and other satellites/sensors SST products, in the NOAA ACSPO Regional Monitor for SST (ARMS) system. More information about the dataset is found at AVHRRF_MA-STAR-L2P-v2.80 and in (Pryamitsyn et al., 2021).

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 1 km Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Level 2P dataset based on multi-channel sea surface temperature (SST) retrievals generated in real-time from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the European Meteorological Operational-A (MetOp-A）satellite （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 realtime from METOP/IASI. The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) measures inthe infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum at a horizontal resolution of 12 km at nadir up to40km over a swath width of about 2,200 km. With 14 orbits in a sun-synchronous mid-morningorbit (9:30 Local Solar Time equator crossing, descending node) global observations can beprovided twice a day. The SST retrieval is performed and provided by the IASI L2 processor atEUMETSAT headquarters. The product format is compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification(GDS) version 2.

A Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) global Level 4 sea surface temperature analysis produced daily on a 0.25 degree grid at the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. This product uses optimal interpolation (OI) by interpolating and extrapolating SST observations from different sources, resulting in a smoothed complete field. The sources of data are satellite (AVHRR) and in situ platforms (i.e., ships and buoys), and the specific datasets employed may change over. At the marginal ice zone, sea ice concentrations are used to generate proxy SSTs. A preliminary version of this file is produced in near-real time (1-day latency), and then replaced with a final version after 2 weeks. Note that this is the AVHRR-ONLY (AVHRR-OI), available from September 1, 1981, but there is a companion SST product that includes microwave satellite data, available from June 2002.

A global Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Level 2P dataset based on multi-channel sea surface temperature (SST) retrievals generated in real-time from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the NOAA-18 platform (launched 20 May 2005) produced and used operationally in oceanographic analyses and forecasts by the US Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO). The AVHRR is a space-borne scanning sensor on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) family of Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) having a operational legacy that traces back to the Television Infrared Observation Satellite-N (TIROS-N) launched in 1978. AVHRR instruments measure the radiance of the Earth in 5 (or 6) relatively wide spectral bands. The first two are centered around the red (0.6 micrometer) and near-infrared (0.9 micrometer) regions, the third one is located around 3.5 micrometer, and the last two sample the emitted thermal radiation, around 11 and 12 micrometers, respectively. The legacy 5 band instrument is known as AVHRR/2 while the more recent version, the AVHRR/3 (first carried on the NOAA-15 platform), acquires data in a 6th channel located at 1.6 micrometer. Typically the 11 and 12 micron channels are used to derive SST sometimes in combination with the 3.5 micron channel. The NOAA platforms are sun synchronous generally viewing the same earth location twice a day (latitude dependent) due to the relatively large AVHRR swath of approximately 2400 km. The highest ground resolution that can be obtained from the current AVHRR instruments is 1.1 km at nadir. AVHRR data are acquired in three formats: High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT), Local Area Coverage (LAC), and Global Area Coverage (GAC). HRPT data are full resolution image data transmitted to a ground stations as they are collected. LAC are also full resolution data, but the acquisition is prescheduled and recorded with an on-board tape recorder for subsequent transmission during a station overpass. This particular dataset is produced from GAC data that are derived from an on-board sample averaging of the full resolution global AVHRR data. Four out of every five samples along the scan line are used to compute on average value and the data from only every third scan line are processed, yielding an effective 4 km resolution at nadir. Further binning and averaging of these pixels results in a final dataset resolution of 8.8 km.

A regional Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Level 2P dataset based on multi-channel sea surface temperature (SST) retrievals generated in real-time from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the NOAA-17 platform (launched 24 June 2002) produced and used operationally in oceanographic analyses and forecasts by the US Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO). The AVHRR is a space-borne scanning sensor on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) family of Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) having a operational legacy that traces back to the Television Infrared Observation Satellite-N (TIROS-N) launched in 1978. AVHRR instruments measure the radiance of the Earth in 5 (or 6) relatively wide spectral bands. The first two are centered around the red (0.6 micrometer) and near-infrared (0.9 micrometer) regions, the third one is located around 3.5 micrometer, and the last two sample the emitted thermal radiation, around 11 and 12 micrometers, respectively. The legacy 5 band instrument is known as AVHRR/2 while the more recent version, the AVHRR/3 (first carried on the NOAA-15 platform), acquires data in a 6th channel located at 1.6 micrometer. Typically the 11 and 12 micron channels are used to derive SST sometimes in combination with the 3.5 micron channel. The NOAA platforms are sun synchronous generally viewing the same earth location twice a day (latitude dependent) due to the relatively large AVHRR swath of approximately 2400 km. The highest ground resolution that can be obtained from the current AVHRR instruments is 1.1 km at nadir. AVHRR data are acquired in three formats: High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT), Local Area Coverage (LAC), and Global Area Coverage (GAC). HRPT data are full resolution image data transmitted to a ground stations as they are collected. LAC are also full resolution data, but the acquisition is prescheduled and recorded with an on-board tape recorder for subsequent transmission during a station overpass. GAC data provide daily subsampled global coverage recorded on tape recorders and then transmitted to a ground station. This particular dataset is derived from LAC data. Further binning and averaging of the 1.1 km LAC pixels results in a final dataset resolution of 2.2 km. The coverage of the LAC data can vary but generally contains scenes over the oceans adjacent to Australia and the North Indian Ocean.