Sea Surface Temperatures from Nimbus-7 SMMR Radiances

Abstract

Global displays of sea surface temperatures (SST's) from the Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) are obtained with spatial sampling intervals as small as 50 km rather than the 150 km spacing normally used for such retrievals. An example is illustrated using a composite global SMMR data set for January 1979, a preliminary version of the SST retrieval algorithm, and a sampling interval of 100 km. The results were found to be in qualitative agreement with in situ and climatic data, insofar as such comparisons were attempted. In addition to the expected climatic patterns, the global oceanic isotherms contain oscillations that are clearly not instrumental but geophysical in nature.