GOES sea surface temperature products in NOAA/NESDIS

A sea surface temperature (SST) retrieval algorithm has been implemented at NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) to generate SST products from the new generation of imaging instruments on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). The GOES SST algorithm retrieves the GOES 8/10 multispectral information for channels 1, 2, 4 and 5. Then extensive screening for cloud, wind effects, and other factors which would affect the regression equation are performed on these channel measurements to yield clear sky radiance values. Based on these values, two operational GOES SST retrieval equations are produced for GOES-8 and 10, respectively. Frequent sampling by GOES Imagers results in a more complete map of SST as clouds move away. Changes in scene temperature over a short period of time help to detect the presence of clouds. The abundance of GOES observations enables stringent screening for cloud free observations while maintaining good spatial coverage of clear sky inferences of SST. Therefore, NESDIS operational GOES SST products could be applied to climate monitoring, weather forecasting, and oceanic phenomena studies.

The GOES SST products includes 1) three hourly SST observations with 4km spatial resolution over most of the Western Hemisphere (30 W-180 W, 45 S-60 N); 2) one hourly SST observations for four sub regions of GOES-8 and 10; 3) one hourly SST of regional areas including the CoastWatch Regions (Northeast, Southeast, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii); 4) match up files of hourly GOES-SST and buoys.

A GOES SST validation system was developed at NESDIS to validate GOES SST algorithms. The satellite and buoy match up data base product was used to conduct the validation. The global drifting buoys and the TOGA TAO moored buoy SST measurements are extracted from a quality controlled data set and matched with hourly GOES-SST data within 1 hour and 5 KM. Those matchup files are stored in the NOAA's satellite active archive. The preliminary validation results show that the GOES-Buoy SST has a bias of 0.5-degree C with a standard deviation less than 1 degree C.