Retrieval characteristics of non-linear sea surface temperature from the Advanced Very High Resolution RadiometerMerchant, C. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4687-9850, Harris, A. R., Roquet, H. and Le Borgne, P. (2009) Retrieval characteristics of non-linear sea surface temperature from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer. Geophysical Research Letters, 36 (17). L17604. ISSN 0094-8276 Full text not archived in this repository. It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing. To link to this item DOI: 10.1029/2009GL039843 Abstract/SummaryCriteria are proposed for evaluating sea surface temperature (SST) retrieved from satellite infra-red imagery: bias should be small on regional scales; sensitivity to atmospheric humidity should be small; and sensitivity of retrieved SST to surface temperature should be close to 1 K K−1. Their application is illustrated for non-linear sea surface temperature (NLSST) estimates. 233929 observations from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on Metop-A are matched with in situ data and numerical weather prediction (NWP) fields. NLSST coefficients derived from these matches have regional biases from −0.5 to +0.3 K. Using radiative transfer modelling we find that a 10% increase in humidity alone can change the retrieved NLSST by between −0.5 K and +0.1 K. A 1 K increase in SST changes NLSST by <0.5 K in extreme cases. The validity of estimates of sensitivity by radiative transfer modelling is confirmed empirically.
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