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NOAA CoastWatch sea surface temperature (SST) Images are processed by NESDIS Information Processing Division using data from NOAA Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES). CoastWatch SST Images are produced from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data four times daily for the coastal waters of the United States. Near real-time sea surface temperature products may be browsed and downloaded online, while retrospective data may be obtained from the Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS).
The AVHRR sensor measures radiance from the earth in five bands or channels with 1.1 km resolution at nadir. Satellite estimates of SST's are made by converting the radiance measured in the infrared channels to
brightness temperature and then using a multichannel technique to calculate SST to within ±0.5°C. Cloud identification masks are also created using visible and infrared channels with a series of spectral gradient, difference, and threshold tests.
| Channel Number |
Wavelength (Band)
(microns) |
Primary use |
|
| 1 |
0.58-0.68 (visible) |
daytime cloud, snow and ice mapping
data |
| 2 |
0.72-1.10 (near-IR) |
surface water delineation,
vegetation and agriculture assessments |
| 3 |
3.55-3.93 (infrared) |
nighttime cloud mapping, sea
surface temperature measurements, land and water distinctions, and
hot spot detection such as volcanic activity or forest
fires |
| 4 |
10.30-11.30 (infrared) |
cloud mapping, sea and land
surface temperature measurements, and soil moisture and volcanic
eruption data |
| 5 |
11.50-12.50 (infrared) |
sea surface temperature
measurements and soil moisture data |
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