Project Title
Multi-sensor Improved Sea-Surface Temperature (MISST) for IOOS
Focus of this Work
Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is vital to coastal and marine spatial planning, global weather prediction, climate change studies, search and rescue, and ecosystem based management. SST is derived from measurements taken by numerous satellites carrying infrared and microwave radiometers, and is measured by moored buoys, drifting buoys, and ships. This project focuses on completing research to improve the quality of the satellite SSTs from existing and new sensors, producing multi-sensor blended gap-free SSTs from US and international datasets, and successfully broadening the use of these products within specifically targeted coastal applications and the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).
Objectives
The objectives of this project are to (1) improve and continue generation of satellite SST data and SST analyses in the IOOS DMAC and CF-compliant Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Data Specification GDS format; (2) distribute and archive these data; and (3) use this improved SST data in applications, many specifically targeted for the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).
Approach and Work Plan
In the full proposal, each task has been assigned to one or more partners. This partnership consists of 28 scientists from industry, academia, and government with wide ranging experience spanning the initial calibration of satellite sensors, development of SST algorithms, assessment of SST uncertainties, production of NRT satellite data, research into data fusion methodologies and the production of blended data sets, research into diurnal warming and the cool skin effect which both affect satellite SST measurements, and applications that utilize SSTs.
History of Project
The Multi-sensor Improved Sea Surface Temperatures (MISST) for the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) project focused on producing an improved, high-resolution, global, near-real-time (NRT), sea surface temperature analyses through the combination of satellite observations from complementary infrared (IR) and microwave (MW) sensors and then demonstrating the impact of these improved sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on operational ocean models, numerical weather prediction (NWP), and tropical cyclone intensity forecasting. SST is one of the most important variables related to the global ocean-atmosphere system. It is a key indicator for climate change and is widely applied to studies of upper ocean processes, to air-sea heat exchange, and as a boundary condition for numerical weather prediction. The importance of SST to accurate weather forecasting of both severe events and daily weather has been increasingly recognized over the past several years. This project received a National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) Excellence in Partnering Award in 2008. A description of this earlier project was published in Oceanography in 2009.
MISST SSTs
Sea surface temperature is one of the most important variables related to the global ocean-atmosphere system. It is a key indicator for climate change and is widely applied to studies of upper ocean processes, to air-sea heat exchange, and as a boundary condition for numerical weather prediction. The importance of SST to accurate weather forecasting of both severe events and daily weather has been increasingly recognized over the past several years. Multiple operational SST products are currently available and are in widespread use. Despite the well-established state of SST measurements, there are still significant weaknesses in the existing products.
The MISST project is making a direct U.S. contribution to the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) by working within the GODAE High-Resolution SST Pilot Project (GHRSST-PP), initiated by the international GODAE steering team, to coordinate the production of a new generation high-resolution SST.
This work is pertinent to the following missions: TMI, AMSRE, WindSat
This work is pertinent to the following measurements: sea surface temperature