SST Retrieval Using AVHRR on Board NOAA-19 in the Seas Around Japan

The purpose of this study is to derive new Multi-Channel Sea Surface Temperature (MCSST) equations of AVHRR aboard NOAA-19, which was launched in February 2009. Since the HRPT data transmitted from the satellite are directly received at the Tohoku University in Japan, the study area is the seas surrounding it. Using in situ SSTs measured by drifting buoys, 2248 match-ups (1181 for daytime and 1067 for nighttime) are generated for September – November 2009. The daytime and nighttime match-ups are separated into a half for algorithm tuning and another half for validation. Coefficients of MCSSTs are obtained for daytime and nighttime by applying multiple regression analysis to the match-ups, which consist of brightness temperatures of the AVHRR split-window channels and the in-situ SSTs. Validation using the independent match-ups shows that the retrieved daytime and nighttime SSTs have biases of 0.05 and 0.08°C and root mean square differences of 0.61°C and 0.55°C, respectively.