Retrievals of sea surface temperature from infrared imagery: origin and form of systematic errors
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We show that retrievals of sea surface temperature from satellite infrared imagery are prone to two forms of systematic error: prior error (familiar from the theory of atmospheric sounding) and error arising from nonlinearity. These errors have different complex geographical variations, related to the differing geographical distributions of the main geophysical variables that determine clear‐sky brightness‐temperatures over the oceans. We show that such errors arise as an intrinsic consequence of the form of the retrieval (rather than as a consequence of sub‐optimally specified retrieval coefficients, as is often assumed) and that the pattern of observed errors can be simulated in detail using radiative‐transfer modelling. The prior error has the linear form familiar from atmospheric sounding. A quadratic equation for nonlinearity error is derived, and it is verified that the nonlinearity error exhibits predominantly quadratic behaviour in this case. Copyright © 2006 Royal Meteorological Society.
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The physical origin of the correlated errors is understood to arise from the imperfectly accounted-for influence of the atmospheric state on the estimated SST.
“The decorrelation length scales are not yet quantified in detail, but the physical origin of the correlated errors is understood to arise from the imperfectly accounted-for influence of the atmospheric state on the estimated SST41.”
From Satellite-based time-series of sea-surface temperature since 1981 for climate applications (2019) · cites this paper as [41]
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References 13 · Cited by 43
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Llewellyn-Jones, D. T., Minnett, P. J., Saunders, R. W. and Závody, A. M. 1984 Satellite multichannel infrared measurements of sea surface temperature of the N.E. Atlantic Ocean using AVHRR/2. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 110, 613-631
- Merchant, C. J. 1999 'Eliminating bias in satellite retrievals of sea surface temperature'. PhD Thesis, University College, London, UK
- Merchant, C. J. and Le Borgne, P. 2004 Retrieval of sea surface temperature from space based on modeling of infrared radiative transfer: Capabilities and limitations. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 22, 1734-1746. doi: 10.1175/JTECH1667. · DOI
- Saunders, R. W., Brunel, P., Chevallier, F., DeBlonde, G., English, S. J., Matricardi, M. and Rayer, P. J. 2002 'RTTOV-7 -Science and Validation Report'. NWP Technical Re- port No. 387, Met Office, UK. (Available from the National Meteorological Library, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, UK.)
- Authors
- Merchant, C. J., Horrocks, L. A., Eyre, J. R., & O'carroll, A. G.
- Affiliations
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (GB)
- Met Office (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Merchant, C. J.
- Venue
- Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-04
- Volume
- 132
- Issue
- 617
- Pages
- 1205-1223
- ISSN
- 0035-9009 (ISSN-L)
- 1477-870X
- OpenAlex
- W1987727372
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 5
- FWCI
- 2.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society (publishedVersion)
- Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- European Space Agency
- Natural Environment Research Council (NE/D001129/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Calibration and Measurement Techniques
- Keywords
- sea surface temperature retrieval, infrared satellite imagery, systematic errors, nonlinearity error, radiative transfer modelling, ocean surface properties
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