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Three examples of sea surface temperature distributions over the western Atlantic are presented. These were detected by means of data from the scanning radiometer on the Improved Tiros Operational Satellite 1 (ITOS 1) under relatively clear sky conditions.
Satellite techniques for measurement of sea surface temperature (SST) are reviewed briefly, and a discussion of satellite SST applications and recent research in oceanography is provided. These applications include the areas of climate, mesoscale oceanography, and fisheries. Examples given focus mainly on the Pacific and California Current regions. Satellite SST data are currently used operationally for fisheries applications and, in conjunction with in situ data, are providing new insights into mesoscale oceanographic phenomena. Requirements for sensor precision and calibration accuracy are more stringent in air-sea interaction studies and climate research, thus satellite data have gained only qualified acceptance for these applications. Improvements in future satellite instruments, more comprehensive in situ sensor deployments, and better data management procedures should eventually satisfy most oceanography and climate SST requirements.
The annual cycle of sea surface temperature (SST) in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean was estimated using four years (July 1984-July 1988) of NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer observations. High resolution satellite observations at 1-km space and daily time resolution were grided at 100-km space and 5-day time intervals to develop an analysis dataset for determination of low frequency SST variability. The integral time scale, a measure of serial correlation, was found to vary from 40 to 60 days in the domain of interest. The existence of superannual trends in the SST data was investigated, but conclusive results could not be obtained. The annual cycle (and, in particular, the annual harmonic) explains a large proportion of the SST variability. The estimated amplitude of the cycle ranges between 5 deg and 13 deg C throughout the study area, with minima in August-September and maxima in February. The resultant climatology is compared with an arbitrary 5-day satellite SST field, and with the COADS/ICE SST climatology. It was found that the higher resolution satellite-based SST climatology resolves boundary current structure and has significantly better structural agreement with the observed field.
We use a statistical tropical cyclone (TC) model, the North Atlantic Stochastic Hurricane Model (NASHM), in combination with sea-surface temperature (SST) projections from climate models, to estimate regional changes in US TC activity into the 2030s. NASHM is trained on historical variations in TC characteristics with two SST indices: global-tropical mean SST and the difference between tropical North-Atlantic (NA) SST and the rest of the global tropics, often referred to as “relative SST.” Testing confirms the model’s ability to reproduce historical US TC activity, as well as to make skillful predictions. When NASHM is driven by SST projections into the 2030s, overall NA annual TC counts increase, and the fractional increase is the greatest at the highest wind intensities. However, an eastward anomaly in mean TC tracks and an eastward shift in TC formation region result in a geographically-varied signal in US coastal activity. Florida’s Gulf coast is projected to see significant increases in TC activity, compared to the long-term historical mean, and these increases are fractionally greatest at the highest intensities. By contrast, the northwestern US Gulf and the US East Coast will see little change.
Measurements of sensible heat flux, radiometric surface temperature, air temperature, and wind speed made at eight semiarid rangeland sites were used to investigate the sensible heat flux-aerodynamic resistance relationship. The individual sites covered a wide range of vegetation (0.1-4 m tall) and cover (3%-95% bare soil) conditions. Mean values of k/B, a quantity related to the resistance of heat versus momentum transfer at the surface, for the individual sites varied between 3.5 and 12.5. A preliminary test of the utility of an excess resistance based on the mean value of k/B showed that the difference between the mean estimated and measured sensible heat fluxes varied +/- 60 W/sq m for the eight semiarid sites. For the eight sites the values of k/B were plotted against the roughness Reynolds number. The plot showed considerable scatter with values ranging between and beyond the theoretical curves for bluff rough and permeable rough surfaces.
Ocean currents and sea surface temperature remote sensing by Nimbus 2 High Resolution IR Radiometer
Atmospheric effects on infrared multispectral sensing of sea-surface temperature from space
Alloys of the MCrAlX type are the basis for high temperature surface protection systems in gas turbines. M can be one or more of Ni, Co, or Fe and X denotes a reactive metal added to enhance oxide scale adherence. The selection and formation as well as the oxidation, hot corrosion and thermal fatigue performance of MCrAlX coatings are discussed. Coatings covered range from simple aluminides formed by pack cementation to the more advanced physical vapor deposition overlay coatings and developmental plasma spray deposited thermal barrier coatings.
Heat Capacity Mapping Mission surface temperatures were compared to field data obtained in the Mississippi River, in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of the Nantucket Shoals, and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The absolute and relative accuracies of the infrared data were determined.
A procedure is developed for estimating sea surface temperatures from multispectral image data acquired from the VISSR atmospheric sounder on the geostationary GOES satellites. Theoretical regression equations for two and three infrared window channels are empirically tuned using clear field of view satellite radiances matched with reports of SST from NOAA fixed environmental buoys. The empirical regression equations are then used to produce daily regional analyses of SST. Monthly mean SST's for the western North Atlantic and the eastern equatorial Pacific during March and July 1982 were produced for use in the SST Intercomparison Workshop Series. Workshop results showed VAS SST's have a scatter of 0.8-1.0 C and a slight warm bias with respect to the other measurements of SST. The VAS SST's show no discernible bias in the region of El Chichon volcanic aerosol cloud.
A series of satellite sea surface temperature intercomparison workshops were conducted under NASA sponsorship at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Three different satellite data sets were compared with each other, with routinely collected ship data, and with climatology, for the months of November 1979, December 1981, March 1982, and July 1982. The satellite and ship data were differenced against an accepted climatology to produce anomalies, which in turn were spatially and temporally averaged into two-degree latitude-longitude, one-month bins. Monthly statistics on the satellite and ship bin average temperatures yielded rms differences ranging from 0.58 to 1.37 C, and mean differences ranging from -0.48 to 0.72 C, varying substantially from month to month, and sensor to sensor.
A series of satellite sea surface temperature intercomparison workshops were conducted under NASA sponsorship at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Three different satellite data sets were compared with each other, with routinely collected ship data, and with climatology, for the months of November 1979, December 1981, March 1982, and July 1982. The satellite and ship data were differenced against an accepted climatology to produce anomalies, which in turn were spatially and temporally averaged into two-degree latitude-longitude, one-month bins. Monthly statistics on the satellite and ship bin average temperatures yielded rms differences ranging from 0.58 to 1.37 C, and mean differences ranging from -0.48 to 0.72 C, varying substantially from month to month, and sensor to sensor.
The relationship between the sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) and the anomalies of the monthly mean cloud cover (including the high-level, low-level, and total cloud cover), the outgoing longwave radiation, and the reflected solar radiation was analyzed using a least absolute deviations regression at each grid point over the open ocean for a 6-yr period. The results indicate that cloud change in association with a local 1-C increase in SSTAs cannot be used to predict clouds in a potential future world where all the oceans are 1-C warmer than at present, because much of the observed cloud changes are due to circulation changes, which in turn are related not only to changes in SSTAs but to changes in SSTA gradients. However, because SSTAs are associated with changes in the local ocean-atmosphere moisture and heat fluxes as well as significant changes in circulation (such as ENSO), SSTAs can serve as a surrogate for many aspects of global climate change.
A high-resolution, global satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) data set called Pathfinder, from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) aboard the NOAA Polar Orbiters, is available from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (JPL PO.DAAC). Suitable for research as well as education, the Pathfinder SST data set is a result of a collaboration between the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and investigators at several universities. NOAA and NASA are the sponsors of the Pathfinder Program, which takes advantage of currently archived Earth science data from satellites. Where necessary, satellite sensors have been intercalibrated, algorithms improved and processing procedures revised, in order to produce long time-series, global measurements of ocean, land and atmospheric properties necessary for climate research. Many Pathfinder data sets are available to researchers now, nearly a decade before the first launch of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS). The lessons learned from the Pathfinder programs will facilitate the processing and management of terabytes of data from EOS. The Oceans component of Pathfinder has undertaken to reprocess all Global Area Coverage (GAC) data acquired by the 5-channel AVHRRs since 1981. The resultant data products are consistent and stably calibrated [Rao, 1993a, Rao, 1993b, Brown et al., 1993], Earth-gridded SST fields at a variety of spatial and temporal resolutions.
The Hadley sea-surface temperature (HadSST) dataset is investigated for the interval 1871-2008. The purpose of this investigation is to determine the degree of success in identifying and characterizing El Nino (EN) southern (ENSO) extreme events, both EN and La Nina (LN) events. Comparisons are made against both the Southern Oscillation Index for the same time interval and with published values of the Oceanic Nino Index for the interval since 1950. Some 60 ENSO extreme events are identified in the HadSST dataset, consisting of 33 EN and 27 LN events. Also, preferential associations are found to exist between the duration of ENSO extreme events and their maximum anomalous excursion temperatures and between the recurrence rate for an EN event and the duration of the last known EN event. Because the present ongoing EN is a strong event, it should persist 11 months or longer, inferring that the next EN event should not be expected until June 2012 or later. Furthermore, the decadal sum of EN-related months is found to have increased somewhat steadily since the decade of 1920-1929, suggesting that the present decade (2010-2019) possibly will see about 3-4 EN events, totaling about 37 +/- 3 EN-related months (i.e., months that meet the definition for the occurrence of an EN event).
The axial emitter surface temperature profile is experimentally characterized for a 25-A class hollow cathode operating across a range of operating conditions. Profiles were measured using aratio pyrometry diagnostic featuring a fiber optic inserted into the emitter region using a fast motion stage. Emitter temperature is found to increase with increasing discharge current, decreasing flow rate, and increasing magnetic field strength. Across a range of 10 –29 A, the maximum emitter temperature increased 176 ºC, an order of magnitude more than the changes measured for flow rate or magnetic fields strength. Profiles were generally self-similar across all operating conditions, and the difference between maximum and minimum emitter temperature never surpassed 10%, indicating that this cathode design results in satisfactory emitter utilization across its operating envelope
The Sahel experienced a severe drought during the 1970s and 1980s after wet periods in the 1950s and 1960s. Although rainfall partially recovered since the 1990s, the drought had devastating impacts on society. Most studies agree that this dry period resulted primarily from remote effects of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies amplified by local land surface-atmosphere interactions. This paper reviews advances made during the last decade to better understand the impact of global SST variability on West African rainfall at interannual to decadal time scales. At interannual time scales, a warming of the equatorial Atlantic and Pacific/Indian Oceans results in rainfall reduction over the Sahel, and positive SST anomalies over the Mediterranean Sea tend to be associated with increased rainfall. At decadal time scales, warming over the tropics leads to drought over the Sahel, whereas warming over the North Atlantic promotes increased rainfall. Prediction systems have evolved from seasonal to decadal forecasting. The agreement among future projections has improved from CMIP3 to CMIP5, with a general tendency for slightly wetter conditions over the central part of the Sahel, drier conditions over the western part, and a delay in the monsoon onset. The role of the Indian Ocean, the stationarity of teleconnections, the determination of the leader ocean basin in driving decadal variability, the anthropogenic role, the reduction of the model rainfall spread, and the improvement of some model components are among the most important remaining questions that continue to be the focus of current international projects.
The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) has specified the need to systematically generate andvalidate Land Surface Temperature (LST) products. This document provides recommendations on goodpractices for the validation of LST products. Internationally accepted definitions of LST, emissivity andassociated quantities are provided to ensure the compatibility across products and reference data sets. Asurvey of current validation capabilities indicates that progress is being made in terms of up-scaling and insitu measurement methods, but there is insufficient standardization with respect to performing andreporting statistically robust comparisons.Four LST validation approaches are identified: (1) Ground-based validation, which involvescomparisons with LST obtained from ground-based radiance measurements; (2) Scene-based intercomparisonof current satellite LST products with a heritage LST products; (3) Radiance-based validation,which is based on radiative transfer calculations for known atmospheric profiles and land surface emissivity;(4) Time series comparisons, which are particularly useful for detecting problems that can occur during aninstrument's life, e.g. calibration drift or unrealistic outliers due to undetected clouds. Finally, the need foran open access facility for performing LST product validation as well as accessing reference LST datasets isidentified.