Satellite sea surface temperature time series

Global sea surface temperature measurements (SST) have been produced at NOAA since 1982. Daily global SST images have been composited to allow evaluation of the operational products on workstations. Twelve year time series of SST at fixed locations were extracted from these images for monitoring the SST cycles, such as El Nino, which are most evident along the equatorial Pacific. Comparisons of the satellite SST with in situ equatorial Atlas buoy measurements reveal an intermittent bias that can be related to volcanic aerosols and satellite calibration errors. The NOAA-NASA Pathfinder project will improve the accuracy of the satellite SST products by reprocessing the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data with consistent algorithms and calibration. These improvements will allow the detection of long term global SST trends, provided the continuity of the satellite systems is maintained