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Sea Surface Temperature

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Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definition

Historically, sea surface temperature (SST) has been measured by mercury-in-glass thermometers in buckets containing seawater collected by lowering them from ships and, in recent decades, thermistors on buoys or in the engine cooling water intakes of ships. These thermometers measure a temperature at depths of tens of centimeters to a few meters, a temperature often referred to as the “bulk” SST. Recently it has become accepted that it is better to include the depth of the measurement as vertical gradients can exist in the top few meters of the water column. The remotely sensed measurements of SST from satellite infrared radiometers are of a temperature very close to the sea surface, often referred to as the skin temperature. The skin temperature is close to the temperature of the ocean that is in contact with the atmosphere and, as such, is an important parameter that controls the heat and gas transfers between the ocean and atmosphere.

Near-surface temperature gradients

The...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Peter J. Minnett

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  1. Peter J. Minnett
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

    Eni G. Njoku

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Minnett, P.J. (2014). Sea Surface Temperature. In: Njoku, E.G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36699-9_166

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