Sea Surface Temperature

Description:

Sea surface temperature, much like the atmosphere’s temperature, is constantly changing. The interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere is one that scientists are constantly researching, especially in light of climate change. Water warms up and cools down at a slower rate than air, so diurnal variations (heating during the day and cooling during the night) seen in the atmosphere are hard to observe in the ocean. The seasons, however, can be seen as the warmest water near the equator expands toward the United States during the summer months and withdraws again during the winter months.

Fleet Numerical Sea Surface Temperature (4 mb)

Sea surface temperature data is available in two different formats. The first is available from April 13, 2005 through October 31, 2006. The data was obtained from the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center and is created by the Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation. The temperature range for the sea surface temperature is indicated on the color bar in degrees Celsius below. O° is equivalent to 32°F and 30°C is equivalent to 86°F. The second is available from July 4, 2002 through September 9, 2006. This data is from the MODIS satellite. Dark purple is 28°F and bright red is 95°F.

Fleet Numerical Color Bar

Notable Features:

Growth and reduction of the warm water during the changing seasons

Data Category

Major: Ocean

Keywords:

Ocean, sea surface temperature

Data Set Name	fleet_sst
Data Set Source	Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center
Data Set Developer	Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation
Visualization Developer	Steve Albers, NOAA/GSD
Audio	No
Download	FTP

Data Set Name	modis_sst
Data Set Source	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Data Set Developer	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Visualization Developer	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Audio	No
Download	FTP