Horizontal sea surface temperature gradients: MODIS satellite observations versus Reynolds analysis

This study compares horizontal gradients of sea surface temperature (SST) observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard of Terra satellite with those in the Reynolds analysis. Large differences exists in the horizontal gradients between the two SST products, suggesting that existing surface heat balance analyses based on the Reynolds SST analysis is inaccurate. Impact of the inaccuracies on the surface heat balance of the equatorial Pacific region during 2001-02 is estimated. Sensitivity of the SST horizontal gradients with respect to the grid resolution of the data is also studied and the importance of horizontal diffusion in surface heat balance of the coarse-resolution grid is suggested.