Satellite Climatologies

Satellites have been observing ocean parameters long enough to generate excellent climatologies in many cases. This page provides access to some of NODC's experimental ocean climatologies, and goes into some detail on the method behind the next generation of SST climatologies.

For access to the current suite of climatologies, please see: http://data.nodc.noaa.gov/pathfinder/CoralAtlas/

The example images listed on this site illustrate a daily climatology created for the experiemental climatological SST system. The climatology is created by fitting to the time series of SST data at each point in the region a cosine function containing both annual and semi-annual components:

SST = A * cos(2pi*t + B) + C * cos(4pi*t + D) + E

The constants A, B, C, and D correspond to the annual amplitude, annual phase, semi-annual amplitude, and semi-annual phase. The constant E is the long term mean at that point. These constants are illustrated in the following two images:

• Amplitudes and phases (A-D)
• Long term mean (E)

This harmonic regression technique is applied to the Gulf of Mexico test region to produce a climatology at a resolution of 9 km using NOAA/NASA AVHRR Pathfinder SST data between 1985 and 1998. The input time series consists of pentad (5-day) averages. Two example climatological SST fields are shown below (at reduced resolution) for the Gulf of Mexico test region.

The following directory contain links to images (at reduced resolution) which illustrate the climatology.

• Daily SST Climatology

You can also view an SST MPEG Movie and an SST Anomaly MPEG Movie. These movies show the climatology and anomaly fields through time.

Under Development

Presently, development efforts are focused on using the RSMAS/NODC 4 km Pathfinder SST data for the next generation of SST climatologies. By early 2010, we will have a new, global, 4 km climatology available for user testing and feedback.