Shipboard measurements of skin SST in the China Seas: Validation of satellite SST products

Sea Surface temperature (SST) is an essential indicator for climate change. Nowadays there are a number of sensors in orbit with the capacity of SST observations, including mid and thermal infrared as well as microwave observations from space. High accuracy and stability for satellite SST products are required for long-term climate data record of global SST. It is important to properly collect in situ SST measurements for the evaluation of the quality of satellite SST products. The infrared SST autonomous radiometer (ISAR), made by the University of Southampton, has been deployed on the research vessel Dong Fang Hong II of Ocean University of China since September 2009. The skin SST measurements were collected during ten cruises in the China Seas from 2009 to 2010. The in situ data were used to evaluate the satellite SST products retrieved from NOAA AVHRR HRPT data. The comparison of AVHRR SST with ISAR measurements shows negative bias of 0.16 K and standard deviation of 0.67 K. Due to the influence of the weather conditions and the failure of the instruments during some periods of the ten cruises, the number of matchups is limited. Further studies will be carried out with more in situ data available.