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Advances in Retrieval, Operationalization, Monitoring and Application of Sea Surface Temperature II

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Ocean Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 28541

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
Interests: applying high resolution remote sensing data to coastal studies; validation of satellite derived sea surface temperature data sets; development and analysis of climate data records statistical modelin
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
NOAA/NESDIS/STAR Center for Satellite Applications and Research, 5830 University Research Court, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Interests: remote sensing; sea surface temperature

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues

Sea Surface Temperature (SST) products derived from satellites are constantly being improved.

This leads to advances in their use for research and applications. Many products are available operationally in near real time, which allows for monitoring of Marine Heat Waves and impacts on biodiversity. Improvements in cloud masking and resolution have led to further advances  in applications to coastal regions.

We are looking for manuscripts that focus on how advances in retrieval algorithms have increased the use of SST products. Specific examples would be advances in retrieval algorithms that have enhanced the operationalization of the products and their use for monitoring the world’s oceans. Manuscripts that detail the advances in the SST product and how they are related to the application/monitoring/operationlization are very much encouraged.

Dr. Jorge Vazquez
Dr. Eileen Maturi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sea surface temperature (SST) retrieval algorithm
  • SST operational production
  • Marine heat waves monitoring
  • temperature anomaly effects on marine biodiversity
  • cloud detection
  • validation, monitoring and error characterization of SST

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (9 papers)

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19 pages, 3507 KiB  
Article
Validation of NASA Sea Surface Temperature Satellite Products Using Saildrone Data
by Kalliopi Koutantou, Philip Brunner and Jorge Vazquez-Cuervo
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(9), 2277; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15092277 - 25 Apr 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4419
Abstract
Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is at the core of many processes in the oceans. Various remote sensing platforms have been used to obtain SST products of different scales, but their validation remains a topic of ongoing research. One promising platform is an uncrewed [...] Read more.
Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is at the core of many processes in the oceans. Various remote sensing platforms have been used to obtain SST products of different scales, but their validation remains a topic of ongoing research. One promising platform is an uncrewed surface vehicle called Saildrone. We use the data from eight Saildrone deployments of the USA West Coast 2019 campaign to validate MODIS level-2 and Multi-scale Ultra-high Resolution (MUR) level-4 satellite SST products at 1 km spatial resolution and to assess the robustness of the quality levels of MODIS level-2 products over the California Coast. Pixel-based SST comparisons between Saildrone and the satellite products were performed, as well as thermal gradient comparisons computed both at the pixel-base level and using kriging interpolation. The results generally showed better accuracies for the MUR products. The characterization of the MODIS quality level proved to be valid in areas covered by bad-quality MODIS pixels but less valid in areas covered by lower-quality pixels. The latter implies possible errors in the MODIS quality level characterization and MUR interpolation processes. We have demonstrated the ability of the Saildrones to accurately validate near-shore satellite SST products and provide important information for the quality assessment of satellite products. Full article
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18 pages, 13275 KiB  
Article
Co-Occurrence of Atmospheric and Oceanic Heatwaves in the Eastern Mediterranean over the Last Four Decades
by Hassan Aboelkhair, Bayoumy Mohamed, Mostafa Morsy and Hazem Nagy
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(7), 1841; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15071841 - 30 Mar 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2838
Abstract
Heatwaves are now considered one of the main stressors of global warming. As a result of anthropogenic warming, atmospheric and oceanic heatwaves have increased in frequency, intensity and duration in recent decades. These extreme events have recently become a major concern in climate [...] Read more.
Heatwaves are now considered one of the main stressors of global warming. As a result of anthropogenic warming, atmospheric and oceanic heatwaves have increased in frequency, intensity and duration in recent decades. These extreme events have recently become a major concern in climate research due to their economic and environmental impacts on ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the co-occurrence and relationship between atmospheric and marine heatwaves (AHW/MHW) in the Eastern Mediterranean (EMED) over the last four decades (1982–2021). Furthermore, the spatio-temporal variability and trends of sea surface temperature (SST), near-surface air temperature (SAT), AHW and MHW characteristics (frequency and duration) were examined. For these objectives, we used daily gridded high-resolution satellite SST data (0.05° × 0.05°) and the fifth generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF-ERA5) atmospheric reanalysis SAT and wind components (0.25° × 0.25°). The results showed an average warming trend of about 0.38 ± 0.08 °C/decade and 0.43 ± 0.05 °C/decade for SAT and SST, respectively. A high statistically significant (p < 0.05) correlation (R = 0.90) was found between AHW and MHW frequency. Our results showed that more than half of the MHWs in the EMED co-occurred with AHWs throughout the study period. The most intense summer MHW in 2021, which co-occurred with AHW, was associated with higher positive anomalies of SAT and SST, and a decrease in the wind speed anomaly. Full article
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22 pages, 6986 KiB  
Article
Sea Surface Temperature Gradients Estimation Using Top-of-Atmosphere Observations from the ESA Earth Explorer 10 Harmony Mission: Preliminary Studies
by Daniele Ciani, Mattia Sabatini, Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli, Paco Lopez Dekker, Björn Rommen, David S. Wethey, Chunxue Yang and Gian Luigi Liberti
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(4), 1163; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15041163 - 20 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2944
Abstract
The Harmony satellite mission was recently approved as the next European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Explorer 10. The mission science objectives cover several applications related to solid earth, the cryosphere, upper-ocean dynamics and air–sea interactions. The mission consists of a constellation of two [...] Read more.
The Harmony satellite mission was recently approved as the next European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Explorer 10. The mission science objectives cover several applications related to solid earth, the cryosphere, upper-ocean dynamics and air–sea interactions. The mission consists of a constellation of two satellites, flying with the Copernicus Sentinel 1 (C or D) spacecraft, each hosting a C-band receive-only radar and a thermal infrared (TIR) payload. From an ocean dynamics/air–sea interaction perspective, the mission will provide the unique opportunity to observe simultaneously the signature of submesoscale upper-ocean processes via synthetic aperture radar and TIR imagery. The TIR imager is based on microbolometer technology and its acquisitions will rely on four channels: three narrow-band channels yielding observations at a ≃1 km spatial sampling distance (SSD) and a panchromatic (PAN, 8–12 μm) channel characterized by a ≃300 m SSD. Our study investigates the potential of Harmony in retrieving spatial features related to sea surface temperature (SST) gradients from the high-resolution PAN channel, relying on top-of-atmosphere (TOA) observations. Compared to a standard SST gradient retrieval, our approach does not require atmospheric correction, thus avoiding uncertainties due to inter-channel co-registration and radiometric consistency, with the possibility of exploiting the higher resolution of the PAN channel. The investigations were carried out simulating the future Harmony TOA radiances (TARs), as well as relying on existing state-of-the-art level 1 satellite products. Our approach enables the correct description of SST features at the sea surface avoiding the generation of spurious features due to atmospheric correction and/or instrumental issues. In addition, analyses based on existing satellite products suggest that the clear-sky TOA observations, in a typical mid-latitude scene, allow the reconstruction of up to 85% of the gradient magnitudes found at the sea-surface level. The methodology is less efficient in tropical areas, suffering from smoothing effects due to the high concentrations of water vapor. Full article
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21 pages, 11946 KiB  
Article
Identification of Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Surface Salinity Fronts along the California Coast: Application Using Saildrone and Satellite Derived Products
by Jorge Vazquez-Cuervo, Marisol García-Reyes and José Gómez-Valdés
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(2), 484; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15020484 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2293
Abstract
Coastal upwelling regions are one of the most dynamic areas of the world’s oceans. The California and Baja California Coasts are impacted by both coastal upwelling and the California Current, leading to frontal activity that is captured by gradients in both Sea Surface [...] Read more.
Coastal upwelling regions are one of the most dynamic areas of the world’s oceans. The California and Baja California Coasts are impacted by both coastal upwelling and the California Current, leading to frontal activity that is captured by gradients in both Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Sea Surface Salinity (SSS). Satellite data are a great source of spatial data to study fronts. However, biases near coastal areas and coarse resolutions can impair its usefulness in upwelling areas. In this work gradients in SST from NASA Multi-Scale Ultra-High Resolution (MUR) and in two SSS products derived from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) NASA mission are compared directly with gradients derived from the Saildrone uncrewed vehicles to validate the gradients as well as to assess their ability to detect known frontal features. The three remotely sensed data sets (MURSST/JPL, SMAP SSS/RSS, SMAP SSS) were co-located with the Saildrone data prior to the calculation of the gradients. Wavelet analysis is used to determine how well the satellite derived SST and SSS products are reproducing the Saildrone derived gradients. Overall results indicate the remote sensing products are reproducing features of known areas of coastal upwelling. Differences between the SST and SSS gradients are mainly associated with the limitations of the microwave derived SSS coverage near land and its reduced spatial resolution. The results are promising for using remote sensing data sets to monitor frontal structure along the California Coast and the application to long term changes in coastal upwelling and dynamics. Full article
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25 pages, 10667 KiB  
Article
Spatial Gap-Filling of GK2A Daily Sea Surface Temperature (SST) around the Korean Peninsula Using Meteorological Data and Regression Residual Kriging (RRK)
by Jihye Ahn and Yangwon Lee
Remote Sens. 2022, 14(20), 5265; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14205265 - 21 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2087
Abstract
Satellite remote sensing can measure large ocean surface areas, but the infrared-based sea surface temperature (SST) might not be correctly calculated for the pixels under clouds, resulting in missing values in satellite images. Early studies for the gap-free raster maps of satellite SST [...] Read more.
Satellite remote sensing can measure large ocean surface areas, but the infrared-based sea surface temperature (SST) might not be correctly calculated for the pixels under clouds, resulting in missing values in satellite images. Early studies for the gap-free raster maps of satellite SST were based on spatial interpolation using in situ measurements. In this paper, however, an alternative spatial gap-filling method using regression residual kriging (RRK) for the Geostationary Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite-2A (GK2A) daily SST was examined for the seas around the Korean Peninsula. Extreme outliers were first removed from the in situ measurements and the GK2A daily SST images using multi-step statistical procedures. For the pixels on the in situ measurements after the quality control, a multiple linear regression (MLR) model was built using the selected meteorological variables such as daily SST climatology value, specific humidity, and maximum wind speed. The irregular point residuals from the MLR model were transformed into a residual grid by optimized kriging for the residual compensation for the MLR estimation of the null pixels. The RRK residual compensation method improved accuracy considerably compared with the in situ measurements. The gap-filled 18,876 pixels showed the mean bias error (MBE) of −0.001 °C, the mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.315 °C, the root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.550 °C, and the correlation coefficient (CC) of 0.994. The case studies made sure that the gap-filled SST with RRK had very similar values to the in situ measurements to those of the MLR-only method. This was more apparent in the typhoon case: our RRK result was also stable under the influence of typhoons because it can cope with the abrupt changes in marine meteorology. Full article
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31 pages, 3252 KiB  
Article
Multi-Sensor Sea Surface Temperature Products from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
by Pallavi Devidas Govekar, Christopher Griffin and Helen Beggs
Remote Sens. 2022, 14(15), 3785; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14153785 - 6 Aug 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3316
Abstract
Sea surface temperature (SST) products that can resolve fine scale features, such as sub-mesoscale eddies, ocean fronts and coastal upwelling, are increasingly in demand. In response to user requirements for gap-free, highest spatial resolution, best quality and highest accuracy SST data, the Australian [...] Read more.
Sea surface temperature (SST) products that can resolve fine scale features, such as sub-mesoscale eddies, ocean fronts and coastal upwelling, are increasingly in demand. In response to user requirements for gap-free, highest spatial resolution, best quality and highest accuracy SST data, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) produces operational, real-time Multi-sensor SST level 3 products by compositing SST from Advanced Very-High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensors on Meteorological Operational satellite (MetOp)-B and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 18, along with SST from Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensors on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) and NOAA 20 polar-orbiting satellites for the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) project. Here we discuss our method to combine data from different sensors and present validation of the satellite-derived SST against in situ SST data. The Multi-sensor Level 3 Super Collated (L3S) SSTs exhibit significantly greater spatial coverage and improved accuracy compared with the pre-existing IMOS AVHRR-only L3S SSTs. When compared to the Geo Polar Blended level 4 analysis SST data over the Great Barrier Reef, Multi-sensor L3S SST differs by less than 1 °C while exhibiting a wider range of SSTs over the region. It shows more variability and restores small-scale features better than the Geo Polar Blended level 4 analysis SST data. The operational Multi-sensor L3S SST products are used as input for applications such as IMOS OceanCurrent and the BoM ReefTemp Next-Generation Coral Bleaching Nowcasting service and provide useful insight into the study of marine heatwaves and ocean upwelling in near-coastal regions. Full article
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19 pages, 3926 KiB  
Article
Sea Surface Temperature Variability and Marine Heatwaves in the Black Sea
by Bayoumy Mohamed, Omneya Ibrahim and Hazem Nagy
Remote Sens. 2022, 14(10), 2383; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14102383 - 16 May 2022
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5038
Abstract
Marine heatwaves (MHWs) have recently been at the forefront of climate research due to their devastating impacts on the marine environment. In this study, we have evaluated the spatiotemporal variability and trends of sea surface temperature (SST) and MHWs in the Black Sea. [...] Read more.
Marine heatwaves (MHWs) have recently been at the forefront of climate research due to their devastating impacts on the marine environment. In this study, we have evaluated the spatiotemporal variability and trends of sea surface temperature (SST) and MHWs in the Black Sea. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship between the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and MHW frequency. This is the first attempt to investigate MHWs and their characteristics in the Black Sea using high-resolution remote-sensing daily satellite SST data (0.05° × 0.05°) from 1982 to 2020. The results showed that the spatial average of the SST warming rate over the entire basin was about 0.65 ± 0.07 °C/decade. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis revealed that SST in the Black Sea exhibited inter-annual spatiotemporal coherent variability. The maximum spatial SST variability was discovered in the central Black Sea, whereas the lowest variability was in the Batumi and Caucasus anti-cyclonic eddies in the eastern Black Sea. The highest SST temporal variability was found in 1994. More than two-thirds of all MHW events were recorded in the last decade (2010–2020). The highest annual MHW durations were reported in 1994 and 2020. The highest MHW frequency was detected in 2018 (7 waves). Over the whole study period (1982–2020), a statistically significant increase in annual MHW frequency and duration was detected, with trends of 1.4 ± 0.3 waves/decade and 2.8 ± 1.3 days/decade, respectively. A high number of MHW events coincided with El Niño (e.g., 1996, 1999, 2007, 2010, 2018, and 2020). A strong correlation (R = 0.90) was observed between the annual mean SST and the annual MHW frequency, indicating that more MHWs can be expected in the Black Sea, with serious consequences for the marine ecosystem. Full article
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17 pages, 11209 KiB  
Article
Sea Surface Skin Temperature Retrieval from FY-3C/VIRR
by Zhuomin Li, Mingkun Liu, Sujuan Wang, Liqin Qu and Lei Guan
Remote Sens. 2022, 14(6), 1451; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14061451 - 17 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2440
Abstract
The visible and infrared scanning radiometer (VIRR) onboard the Fengyun-3C (FY-3C) meteorological satellite has 11 μm and 12 μm channels, which are capable of sea surface temperature (SST) observations. This study is based on atmospheric radiative transfer modeling (RTM) by applying Bayesian cloud [...] Read more.
The visible and infrared scanning radiometer (VIRR) onboard the Fengyun-3C (FY-3C) meteorological satellite has 11 μm and 12 μm channels, which are capable of sea surface temperature (SST) observations. This study is based on atmospheric radiative transfer modeling (RTM) by applying Bayesian cloud detection theory and optimal estimation (OE) to obtain sea surface skin temperature (SSTskin) from VIRR in the Northwest Pacific. The inter-calibration of FY-3C/VIRR 11 μm and 12 μm brightness temperature (BT) is carried out using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) as the reference sensor. Bayesian cloud detection and OE SST retrieval with the calibration BT data is performed to obtain SSTskin. The SSTskin retrievals are compared with the buoy SST with a temporal window of 1 h and a spatial window of 0.01°. The bias is −0.12 °C, and the standard deviation is 0.52 °C. Comparisons of the retrieved SSTskin with the AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) SSTskin from European Space Agency Sea Surface Temperature Climate Change Initiative (ESA SST CCI) project show the bias of 0.08 °C and the standard deviation of 0.55 °C. The results indicate that the VIRR SSTskin are consistent with AVHRR SSTskin and buoy SST. Full article
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15 pages, 5264 KiB  
Technical Note
Interannual Variabilities of the Southern Bay of Bengal Cold Pool Associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation
by Jianjie Feng, Yun Qiu, Changming Dong, Xutao Ni, Wenshu Lin, Hui Teng and Aijun Pan
Remote Sens. 2022, 14(23), 6169; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14236169 - 6 Dec 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1698
Abstract
The southern Bay of Bengal (BOB) cold pool (SCP) plays an important role in the regional climate fluctuation of the BOB. However, the interannual variability in the SCP is still unknown. Multisource satellite remote sensing data and assimilation have been applied to explore [...] Read more.
The southern Bay of Bengal (BOB) cold pool (SCP) plays an important role in the regional climate fluctuation of the BOB. However, the interannual variability in the SCP is still unknown. Multisource satellite remote sensing data and assimilation have been applied to explore the interannual variability in the SCP and its relationship with El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events for the period 1982–2020. The anomalous SST of the SCP in the summer following the peak phase (i.e., winter) of the ENSO was closely related to the ENSO events. El Niño (La Niña)-induced the warm (cold) anomaly of the SCP starting from May and persisted throughout August with a peak value appearing in June during the El Niño (La Niña) decaying years. In the El Niño decaying years, the southwest monsoon current (SMC) was weakened, forced locally by the weakening southwesterly wind and remotely by the easterly wind anomaly at the equator associated with El Niño. The El Niño-related weakening SMC and the associated less cold advection led to the warm anomaly of the SCP. In addition, El Niño-related atmospheric heating also made a comparable contribution to the evolution of the SCP’s SST. In the early stage (15 May to 10 June), its contribution to the warming of the SCP was much larger than that of the SMC, whereas from mid-June to August, it reversed to have a cooling effect and partially offset the advection heating induced by the SMC on the SCP. In the La Niña decaying years, similar oceanic and atmospheric processes operated but in an opposite way. Full article
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