Satellite-derived sea surface temperatures—A comparison between operational, theoretical and experimental algorithms

Instruments mounted on Australian research vessels and an operational passenger ferry have provided three extensive data sets that are used to assess the performance of the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) instrument and the theoretical algorithms that are used to provide estimates of sea surface temperature (SST) from the AATSR data. The DAR011 infrared radiometer was deployed on the RV Lady Basten for four short cruises in mid-2002 and on the RV Southern Surveyor for a 32-day cruise in the Gulf of Carpentaria in mid-2003. The radiometer data were complemented with meteorological and bulk SST measurements throughout the cruises. For the 2003 cruise twenty AATSR scenes were obtained over the Gulf of Carpentaria and ten of these provided coincident data with the ship location. Four coincidences were cloud-free, providing good match-ups with the AATSR SST estimates. Infrared and microwave data were also collected from seven other satellite instruments (including ATSR-2) allowing comparisons with AATSR data on a larger spatial scale. A radiometer and bulk SST measuring device have been installed on a passenger ferry that makes regular trips between the west Australian coast and Rottnest Island. 1134 transects have been made over the seven-month period between November 2002 and May 2003. While there have been some teething problems with the radiometer the bulk SST measurements have provided a large valuable data set for comparisons with AATSR measurements. 270 cloud-free coincidences between the AATSR and the ferry data were obtained. Results from the three data sets confirm that the AATSR is providing SST estimates well within the required specifications