Sea surface temperature (SST) is the water temperature at the surface. In practical terms, the exact meaning of "surface" will vary according to the measurement method used. A satellite infra-red radiometer indirectly measures the temperature of a very thin layer (about 10 micrometres thick) or skin of the ocean (leading to the phrase skin temperature) representing the top millimeter; a thermometer attached to a moored or drifting buoy in the ocean would measure the temperature as a specific depth (e.g. the top 1 meter below the sea surface); the measurements routinely made from ships are often from the engine water intakes and may be at various depths in the upper 20 m of the ocean. Note that the depth of measurement in this case will vary with the cargo aboard the vessel.

Measuring SST

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There are a variety of techniques for measuring this parameter that can potentially yield different results because different things are actually being measured.

The earliest technique for measuring SST was dipping a thermometer into a bucket of water manually drawn from the sea surface. The first automated technique for determining SST was accomplished by measuring the temperature of water in the intake port of large ships. This measurement is not always consistent, however, as the depth of the water intake as well as exactly where the temperature is taken can vary from vessel to vessel. Probably the most exact and repeatable measurements come from fixed buoys where the depth of water temperature measurement is always 1 meter and very robust electrical temperature probes are used. These measurements are usually beamed to satellites for automated and immediate data distribution. A large network of coastal buoys in U.S. waters is maintained by the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). Since about 1990, there has also been an extensive array of moored buoys maintained across the equatorial Pacific Ocean designed to help monitor and predict the El Niño phenomenon.

Since the 1980s satellites have been increasingly utilized to measure SST and have provided an enormous leap in our ability to view the spatial and temporal variation in SST. The satellite measurement is made by sensing the ocean radiation in two or more wavelengths in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum which can be then be empirically related to SST. These wavelengths are chosen because they are,

1. within the peak of the blackbody radiation expected from the earth and
2. able to transmit well through the atmosphere

The satellite measured SST provides both a synoptic view of the ocean and a high frequency of repeat views, allowing the examination of basin-wide upper ocean dynamics not possible with ships or buoys. For example, a ship traveling at 10 knots (20 km/h) would require 10 years to cover the same area a satellite covers in two minutes.

However, there are several difficulties with satellite based absolute SST measurements. First, because all the radiation emanates from the top "skin" of the ocean, approximately the top 0.1 mm or less, it may not represent the bulk temperature of the upper meter of ocean due primarily to effects of solar surface heating in the daytime, and back radiation and sensible heat loss at night as well as from the effects of surface evaporation. This makes it difficult to compare to measurements from buoys or shipboard methods, complicating ground truth efforts. Secondly, the satellite cannot look through clouds, creating a "fair weather bias" in the long term trends of SST. Nonetheless, these difficulties are small compared to the benefits in understanding gained from satellite SST estimates.

SST and Hurricanes

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SSTs above 26 degrees C are generally favorable for the formation and sustaining of tropical cyclones/hurricanes. Generally the higher the SST, the stronger the storm. However, there are many factors affecting the strength of such storms.

Remotely sensed SST can be used to detect the surface temperature signature due to hurricanes. In general, a SST cooling is observed after the passing of a hurricane primarily as the result of mixed layer deepening and surface heat losses. In some cases upwelling caused by a surface wind field divergence perhaps in conjunction with bathymetric effects can also be a source of cooling.

The SST changes primarily have important biological implications for hospitable/inhospitable conditions for many organisms including species of plankton, seagrasses, shellfish, fish and mammals. Although the SST changes are short-lived their ramifications are still not well understood.

Note: this article has been adapted from the NOAA information found at http://www.csc.noaa.gov/crs/cohab/hurricane/sst.htm, allowable because this falls under fair use copyright.

See also

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• Loop Current, with plots of sea temperature in the Gulf of Mexico

External links

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• GHRSST-PP, an international project dealing with the production and application of SST data products
• NOAA Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Contour Charts

Basic meteorological concepts and phenomena | Marine meteorology and sailing

Temperatura de la superficie del mar | Température de surface de la mer