Development of an operational microwave sea surface temperature retrieval algorithm

The next generation of passive microwave satellites (i.e. WindSat, AMSR on AQUA, and CMIS on NPOESS) provide an opportunity to develop sea surface temperature (SST) products that are less affected by errors due to water vapor, aerosols and clouds than IR-based SST. Although wind effects, undetected rain and large spatial resolution will provide challenges for algorithm developers, the advantages of an all-weather SST product are numerous. As a first step towards a microwave SST product for pre-NPOESS and NPOESS era microwave satellites, a regression-based algorithm has been developed for the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). Using brightness temperatures from the 10.7 GHz channels and 1.5 years (January 2000 through July 2001) of buoy matchups, a preliminary algorithm has been developed. Results of this algorithm have been compared to 2 years of independent buoy collocations (January 1998 through December 1999), and are presented with sample SST products. Additional improvements in the accuracy should be gained by the future development of algorithm coefficients based upon radiative transfer models.