Development of a 28-Year (1987-2014) Climatology of Single and Multi-sensor Satellite-based Retrievals of Near-surface Humidity and Temperature

Accurate and high-resolution observations of near-surface (10 m) humidity (q_a) and temperature (T_a) observations are considered essential for determination of turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes at the ocean surface. Satellite observations used to derive T_a and q_a extend nearly 30 years thus providing the opportunity of long data record of high resolution satellite-derived ocean heat fluxes. Our retrieval methods incorporate intercalibrated Fundamental Climate Data Record (FCDR) satellite observations from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A) developed at NESDIS STAR and FCDR observations from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) developed at Colorado State University. The training and validation of the retrieval algorithms incorporates matched satellite and temperature and humidity observations from selected ship observations from the Shipboard Automated Meteorological and Oceanographic System (SAMOS) Initiative, NOAA PSD research vessels, ICOADS ship data, and dropsonde observations from NOAA and NASA aircraft. The description of the retrieval algorithms is provided and advantages and disadvantages of single-sensor versus multi-sensor retrievals is discussed. The long-term stability and error characteristics of the retrieved T_a and q_a products are assessed and implications on deriving satellite-derived climatology of surface turbulent heat fluxes is examined.