Sea Surface Temperature

Abstract

Satellite Sea Surface Temperature (SST) determinations from ocean surface emission in the thermal IR portion of the spectrum have been made for a number of years (McClain, 1979; Alishouse and McClain, 1985). A number of research and operational environmental satellites have carried scanning radiometer systems that measure emitted terrestrial and atmospheric IR radiation. The various sensors and their characteristics have been described in Section IV and by McClain (1980a, b). In most cases the atmospheric window from 10.5 to 12.5 µm has been used, but its use for determining absolute sea surface temperature has often been secondary to its use for imaging of clouds and thermal fronts associated with ocean currents and upwelling (Legeckis, 1978). Radiometers of improved quality, such as the AVHRR, with two and three atmospheric window channels, have permitted development of methods to retrieve absolute SST of far better accuracy than was possible with single window systems (Strong and McClain, 1984).