Multi-Sensor Improved Sea Surface Temperature (MISST) for GODAE

Abstract

The Multi-sensor Improved Sea Surface Temperatures (MISST) for the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) project intends to produce an improved, high-resolution, global, near-real-time (NRT), sea surface temperature analysis through the combination of satellite observations from complementary infrared (IR) and microwave (MW) sensors and to then demonstrate the impact of these improved sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on operational ocean models, numerical weather prediction, 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. Despite the importance and wide usage of operational SST analyses, significant weaknesses remain in the existing operational products. The improved sensors on the Terra, Aqua, and EnviSAT-1 satellites, in conjunction with previously existing sensors on several other US Navy, NASA, and NOAA satellites, provide the opportunity for notable advances in SST measurement. In addition to more frequent coverage for increased temporal resolution, these sensors permit the combination of highly complementary IR and MW retrievals. While clouds, aerosols, and atmospheric water vapor affect IR retrievals, these phenomena have little impact on MW retrievals. Characteristically, IR SST provides high spatial resolution (~1 km at nadir) but poorer coverage with the presence of clouds.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA482103

Entities

People

  • Chelle L. Gentemann
  • Eric Bayler
  • Gary A. Wick
  • James A. Cummings

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Sensors
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Climate Change
  • Commercial Fishing
  • Cyclones
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Fusion
  • Electronic Mail
  • High Resolution
  • Homeland Security
  • Information Science
  • National Security
  • Public Health
  • Sea Surface Temperature
  • Statistics
  • Surface Temperature
  • Tropical Cyclones
  • Weather Forecasting

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers

Technology Areas

  • Space