Summary

Description

A Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Level 4 sea surface temperature analysis produced daily on an operational basis at the JPL Physical Oceanography DAAC using weighted averages on a regional 0.011 degree grid over the oceans off North and Central America (62N- 20S, 165W - 30W). This Research to Operations (RTO) analysis is based upon a composite of either nighttime or daytime GHRSST L2P skin SST from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the NASA Aqua and Terra platforms, and subskin SST observations from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSRE). Four unique products (composites) are created: MODIS Terra/AMSRE day and night, and MODIS Aqua/AMSRE day and night. This particular dataset represents a MODIS Aqua and AMSRE composite using daytime data. The algorithm is based on a weighting scheme and compositing wherby MODIS data are used if they exist to preserve the highest resolution possible. The product is categorized as blended because no attempt is made to correct for foundation or skin temperature.