Retrieval characteristics of non‐linear sea surface temperature from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer
Open accessAbstract
Criteria are proposed for evaluating sea surface temperature (SST) retrieved from satellite infra‐red imagery: bias should be small on regional scales; sensitivity to atmospheric humidity should be small; and sensitivity of retrieved SST to surface temperature should be close to 1 K K−1. Their application is illustrated for non‐linear sea surface temperature (NLSST) estimates. 233929 observations from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on Metop‐A are matched with in situ data and numerical weather prediction (NWP) fields. NLSST coefficients derived from these matches have regional biases from −0.5 to +0.3 K. Using radiative transfer modelling we find that a 10% increase in humidity alone can change the retrieved NLSST by between −0.5 K and +0.1 K. A 1 K increase in SST changes NLSST by <0.5 K in extreme cases. The validity of estimates of sensitivity by radiative transfer modelling is confirmed empirically.
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Single-view coefficient-based retrievals are associated with geographical biases arising from this information content deficit.
“Particularly for day-lit scenes, where only the 11 and 12 µm channels are used, single-view coefficient-based retrievals are associated with geographical biases arising from this information content deficit38.”
From Satellite-based time-series of sea-surface temperature since 1981 for climate applications (2019) · cites this paper as [38]
AVHRRs are single-view sensors, which reduces the information content available for determining SST compared to the dual-view ATSRs.
“Unlike the ATSR-series, the AVHRRs are single-view sensors, which reduces the information content available for determining SST compared to the dual-view ATSRs.”
From Satellite-based time-series of sea-surface temperature since 1981 for climate applications (2019) · cites this paper as [38]
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References 17 · Cited by 91
- Authors
- Merchant, C. J., Harris, A. R., Roquet, H., & Le Borgne, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- Météo-France (FR)
- Centre de Météorologie Spatiale Météo‐France Lannion France
- Venue
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2009-09
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 17
- ISSN
- 0094-8276 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-8007
- OpenAlex
- W2033779577
- Cited by
- 91
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- Locations
- Geophysical Research Letters (publishedVersion)
- Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Natural Environment Research Council (earth010002)
- National Centre for Earth Observation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Calibration and Measurement Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
- Keywords
- AVHRR, retrieval bias, radiative transfer modelling, MetOp-A, numerical weather prediction, SST estimation
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