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Low Earth Orbiter Sea Surface Temperature
Validation

SST Match to Data Base

The validation of the METOP SST has been done i) by using the operational Matchup Data Base (MDB), ii) by intercomparison with other sensors.
The MDB collects in situ SST measurements from ship, moored or drifting buoys, available through the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) and the coincident full resolution satellite information, within 3 hours from the in situ measurement. The satellite information (calculated SST, brightness temperatures and reflectances) is extracted in a 21x21 pixel box centred on the measurement location providing the coverage of the box by clear pixels is larger than 10%.

The MDB includes the in situ measurements (platform ID +SST + auxiliary measures) and all the variables of the workfile. The MDB is built with a 4 day delay to insure a good collection of the in situ data through the GTS.

The reference validation statistics are based on the exploitation of the MDB, as follows :
Drifters only are considered
Night time and daytime algorithms are considered separately
To eliminate erroneous measurements, cases where the absolute value of the difference between the in-situ measurement and the climatology exceeds 5 K are eliminated.
The statistics are calculated from the differences between the central pixel of the validation box (when clear) and the buoy measurement.

According to GHRSST-PP project, for IR derived products, the normalized proximity confidence value scale fixes 6 values : 0 : unprocessed, 1 : cloudy , 2: bad, 3: suspect, 4: acceptable, 5 : excellent. Those values are good predictors of the errors. It is recommended not to use the confidence value 2 for quantitative use. Usable data are those with confidence values 3, 4 and 5.

Results

The last 12 month validation results are available under a graphic form.
Select below your satellite and day/night configuration.

For GRAPHS (click on the corresponding cell) :

GLB SST
MGR SST		 Confidence Value
2
"bad"		 3
"suspect"		 4
"acceptable"		 5
"excellent"		 Usable
MetOp-A Daytime    X       X       X       X       X   
Night time    X       X       X       X       X   


NAR SST Confidence Value
2
"bad"		 3
"suspect"		 4
"acceptable"		 5
"excellent"		 Usable
MetOp-A Daytime    X       X       X       X       X   
Night time    X       X       X       X       X   
NOAA19 (*) Daytime    X       X       X       X       X   
Night time    X       X       X       X       X   
NOAA18 (*) Daytime    X       X       X       X       X   
Night time    X       X       X       X       X   

(*) NOAA18 has been replaced by NOAA19 on 01/12/2009.
Note that the graphs for NOAA18 will be removed without advance notice.

Complementary documentation

More details on the AVHRR results can be found in [1]

[1] Poulter, D and S. Eastwood, (2008) Validation of the OSI SAF METOP SST products in polar regions.

Link to: NARSST OLD VERSION -validation-