Operational high-resolution sea surface temperature product in the Gulf of Maine

• Published in: Journal of operational oceanography Vol. 2; no. 2; pp. 57 - 66
• Main Authors: Vinogradova, Nadya T, Zaccheo, T Scott, Alcala, Christian M, Vandemark, Doug
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 01.08.2009
• Subjects: Marine; ANW, USA, Maine Gulf
• ISSN: 1755-876X; 1755-8778
• DOI: 10.1080/1755876X.2009.12027741

High-resolution sea surface temperature (SST) fields are crucial for modelling upper ocean circulation and estimating air-sea fluxes. To meet these critical needs, SST products are often constructed by combining measurements from a variety of sources. One such application is described that produces a regional SST product for the Gulf of Maine, and results are provided from an ongoing study to validate this product. These SST fields are derived using measurements from the geostationary operational environmental satellite (GOES) and analyses from the real-time global sea surface temperature (RTG_SST) and the ocean surface temperature and ice (OSTIA) systems over the Gulf of Maine region. This algorithm has been implemented into a prototype near-real time production system that, since May 2007, has produced SST fields four times per day on a 4km grid. This system also provides daily validation data constructed by collocating estimated SST values with in-situ measurements from buoys. The average bias in the domain from May to August 2007 is found to be 0.02±0.8°C. The system was applied to analyse diurnal variability in the region, which revealed significant amplitudes and complex spatial distribution during summer.