Satellite-derived sea surface temperature intercomparison: A case study

During a one-week period in July/August 1997 an intensive campaign was held which involved the measurement of the sea surface temperature (SST) from both satellites and ships off the coast of Townsville in tropical north-east Australia. The experiment was a pilot project of the Working Group on Calibration and Validation (WGCV) of the international Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS). The ship measurements were made with both infrared radiometers and in situ bulk surface temperature devices. The SST was also determined using the data from several sensors on different environmental satellites. The data analysis has demonstrated a reasonable agreement between the different measurements, but it has also highlighted some of the differences between the surface and space-based measurements and identified several difficulties in using surface-based data for satellite-derived data validation. The pilot project has also demonstrated the immense value of future similar inter-comparisons especially if the data are to be amalgamated into long-term data sets for climate research.