How do satellites measure sea surface temperature?

What is Ocean Temperature? Ocean Temperature is a measure of the energy due to the motion of molecules in the ocean. Satellites enable measurement of sea surface temperature (SST) from approximately 10 µm below the surface (infrared bands) to 1mm (microwave bands) depths using radiometers.

What does sea surface temperature affect?

Increases in sea surface temperature have led to an increase in the amount of atmospheric water vapor over the oceans. This water vapor feeds weather systems that produce precipitation, increasing the risk of heavy rain and snow (see the Heavy Precipitation and Tropical Cyclone Activity indicators).

Is sea surface temperature correlated with temperature?

SST averaged over the ice-free months of May–November is strongly correlated to an index of the April–November air temperature anomaly, capturing up to 90% of the variance, suggesting strong coupling between air and sea-surface temperatures on seasonal time scales.

Which instrument has been measuring sea surface temperatures since 1978?

Since 1978 microwave sounding units (MSUs) on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration polar orbiting satellites have measured the intensity of upwelling microwave radiation from atmospheric oxygen, which is related to the temperature of broad vertical layers of the atmosphere.

How ocean mean temperature is measured?

Ocean Mean Temperature (OMT) – which is analysed by measuring the ocean thermal energy during the January-March period – can better predict Indian summer monsoon than the SST. The SST is restricted to a few millimetres of the top ocean layer and is largely influenced by strong winds, evaporation, or thick clouds.

What causes sea surface temperatures to rise?

The ocean absorbs vast quantities of heat as a result of increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mainly from fossil fuel consumption. This is causing ocean temperatures to rise.

Which definition best describes global warming?

a long-term increase in the Earth’s average temperature.

What is the average sea surface temperature?

This value is well above 16.1 °C (60.9 °F), the long term global average surface temperature of the oceans.

How is sea surface measured?

To measure SST, scientists deploy temperature sensors on satellites, buoys, ships, ocean reference stations, and through marine telemetry. The NOAA-led U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) and NOAA’s Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) merge their data to provide SSTs worldwide.

What is land surface temperature?

The Land Surface Temperature (LST) is the radiative skin temperature of the land surface, as measured in the direction of the remote sensor. In turn, the LST influences the partition of energy between ground and vegetation, and determines the surface air temperature.

How is OMT measured?

1. OMT is measured up to a depth of 26°C isotherm which is 129 meters in the south-western Indian Ocean during January-March. 2. OMT collected during January-March can be used in assessing whether the amount of rainfall in monsoon will be less or more than a certain long-term mean.

What is OMT in geography?

Ocean heat content (OHC) and Ocean Mean Temperature (OMT) These are important climatic parameters required for atmospheric and oceanic studies like cyclone and monsoon predictions and ocean heat transport estimations.

How does remote sensing work for sea surface temperature?

Remote Sensing Systems distributes the data in high spatial and temporal (daily, weekly, monthly) resolutions for both daytime and nighttime averages. Monthly versions are available on a 1°x1° grid from JPL PO-DAAC as well as the CMIP5 obs4MIPS distribution; these 1°x1° monthly versions were computed from the nighttime averages.

Where does the SST from remote sensing come from?

SST (AMSR-E): Sea Surface Temperature from Remote Sensing Systems High resolution (0.25°) SSTs were derived from the AMSR-E, a passive microwave radiometer flying on NASA’s AQUA satellite. Remote Sensing Systems distributes the data in high spatial and temporal (daily, weekly, monthly) resolutions for both daytime and nighttime averages.

What is the accuracy of satellite sea surface temperature?

Gentemann, CL, T Meissner & FJ Wentz, 2010: Accuracy of Satellite Sea Surface Temperatures at 7 and 11 GHz, IEEE Transactions on Geosciences and Remote Sensing, 48 (3), 1009-1018. Monthly mean SST, number of observations and standard error for July, 2006 derived from AMSR-E.

Why is the sea surface temperature so important?

Introduction Sea-surface temperature (SST) is a very important variable in the earth’s climate system. Being at the interface of the ocean and the atmosphere, SST is critical to both, and to the exchanges of heat, moisture, momentum, and gases between the two (e.g. Bentamy et al., 2017; Wanninkhof et al., 2009).