JPL MUR SST

Multi-scale Sea Surface Temperature Map

Mapping the sea surface temperature (SST) is the main focus of this site. The maps are made mostly from the satellite measurements of SST, with help from surface observations that come from ships and bouys. Since the 1980's, there are a lot more SST data from satellites than surface observations.

Examples of satellite SST retrieval data are:
table of satellite SST sources
and there are more SST satellite sensors than listed above. (The list needs some updating!)

Why so much satellite SST data? A simple answer is that SST is invaluable for weather forecasting. But SST is also important for management of fishery, ocean acoustic communication, and the science including studies of climate and marine life to name a few.

To "blend" the SST data from many different satellite is a tricky business. Satellite-based environmental data are usually irregularly sampled and always noisy. Every satellite has a unique sensor that measures SST. The infra-red (IR) type sensor can offer a very high resolution (down to 1 km in horizontal distance) but suffer from contamination by clouds and aerosols that block the signal. The micro-wave (MW) measurements are more reliable because of cloud-penetrating coverage but are coarser (25 km) in resolution and are not useful along the coasts due to contamination from land.

So we are interested in making use of the best characteristics of each sensor data -- be it resolution or coverage -- and finding an optimal and objective ways to fill the data-voids under the clouds and near the coasts. We understand that different applications need different characteristics in an SST map. In weather forecast, timeliness is likely very important. In fishery and marine biology, spatial resolution may be more important. For climate study, perhaps consistency. What SST "blend" works best for you?


		Multi-scale Sea Surface Temperature Map Mapping the sea surface temperature (SST) is the main focus of this site. The maps are made mostly from the satellite measurements of SST, with help from surface observations that come from ships and bouys. Since the 1980's, there are a lot more SST data from satellites than surface observations. Examples of satellite SST retrieval data are: and there are more SST satellite sensors than listed above. (The list needs some updating!) Why so much satellite SST data? A simple answer is that SST is invaluable for weather forecasting. But SST is also important for management of fishery, ocean acoustic communication, and the science including studies of climate and marine life to name a few. To "blend" the SST data from many different satellite is a tricky business. Satellite-based environmental data are usually irregularly sampled and always noisy. Every satellite has a unique sensor that measures SST. The infra-red (IR) type sensor can offer a very high resolution (down to 1 km in horizontal distance) but suffer from contamination by clouds and aerosols that block the signal. The micro-wave (MW) measurements are more reliable because of cloud-penetrating coverage but are coarser (25 km) in resolution and are not useful along the coasts due to contamination from land. So we are interested in making use of the best characteristics of each sensor data -- be it resolution or coverage -- and finding an optimal and objective ways to fill the data-voids under the clouds and near the coasts. We understand that different applications need different characteristics in an SST map. In weather forecast, timeliness is likely very important. In fishery and marine biology, spatial resolution may be more important. For climate study, perhaps consistency. What SST "blend" works best for you?