Observing the Mediterranean Sea from space: 21 years of Pathfinder-AVHRR sea surface temperatures (1985 to 2005): re-analysis and validation

摘要

The time series of satellite infrared AVHRR data from 1985 to 2005 has beenused to produce a daily series of optimally interpolated SST maps over theregular grid of the operational MFSTEP OGCM model of the Mediterraneanbasin. A complete validation of this OISST (Optimally Interpolated SeaSurface Temperature) product with in situ measurements has been performed inorder to exclude any possibility of spurious trends due to instrumentalcalibration errors/shifts or algorithms malfunctioning related to localgeophysical factors. The validation showed that satellite OISST is able toreproduce in situ measurements with a mean bias of less than 0.1 K and RMSEof about 0.5 K and that errors do not drift with time or with the percentinterpolation error.