Toward Improved Validation of Satellite Sea Surface Skin Temperature Measurements for Climate Research

A poor validation strategy will compromise the quality of satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) products because confidence limits cannot be quantified. This paper addresses the question of how to provide the best operational strategy to validate satellite-derived skin sea surface temperature (SST skin ) measurements. High quality in situ observations obtained using different state-of-the-art infrared radiometer systems are used to characterize the relationship between the SST skin , the subsurface SST at depth (SST depth ), and the surface wind speed. Data are presented for different oceans and seasons. These data indicate that above a wind speed of approximately 6 m s 1 the relationship between the…

• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  Award: NAG56577
• ES
  European Space Agency
• JP
  JST-Mirai Program