A comparative study of satellite-based operational analyses and ship-based in-situ observations of sea surface temperatures over the eastern Canadian shelf

Abstract

A comparative study of satellite-based operational analyses and ship-based in-situ observations of sea surface temperatures over the eastern Canadian shelf. © 2016 Yongsheng Wu et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 29 RESEARCH ARTICLEA comparative study of satellite-based operational analyses and ship-based in-situ observations of sea surface temperatures over the eastern Canadian shelf John's, NL, A1C 5X1. Abstract:The satellite-based operational sea surface temperature (SST) was compared to the ship-based in-situ SSTs established by the Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program (AZMP) over the eastern Canadian shelf (ECS) for a 3-year analysis period (2005)(2006)(2007). Two sets of operational SST analyses were considered in this study, with one set produced by the Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC) and the other produced by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The comparative study indicated that there was no appreciable systematic difference between the CMC and NCEP SST analyses over the ECS. The root mean squared difference (RMSD) between the AZMP ship-based in-situ SSTs and the satellite-based STT analyses over the ECS was about 1.0°C, without any obvious seasonal or geographic trend. The RMSDs were relatively larger over the outer flank of the Grand Banks than the other regions of the ECS, mainly due to dynamically complicated circulation and hydrographic conditions over this shelf break area associated with the Labrador Current.

Comparison of Remotely-Sensed Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity Products With in Situ Measurements From British Columbia, Canada

“…The present study reinforces the findings of previous research (Castillo and Lima, 2010;Smit et al, 2013;Williams et al, 2013;Stobart et al, 2015;Wu et al, 2016). The type of SST product used (i.e., composite vs. analysis, satellite, and sensor types), the methods used for capturing in situ measurements, the location of the study area, and the temporal and spatial resolution used for aggregating the RS data are among the key factors associated with a true representation of water temperature profiles in the study area.…”

“…The type of SST product used (i.e., composite vs. analysis, satellite, and sensor types), the methods used for capturing in situ measurements, the location of the study area, and the temporal and spatial resolution used for aggregating the RS data are among the key factors associated with a true representation of water temperature profiles in the study area. The evidence suggests significant differences in agreement between satellite products across different regions (Castillo and Lima, 2010;Smit et al, 2013;Williams et al, 2013;Stobart et al, 2015;Wu et al, 2016), which highlights the need for similar studies in other aquaculture areas to assess the suitability of SST products.…”

“…As a result, many processed RS products apply a land mask that excludes mixed pixels in nearshore areas and use temporal averaging to account for missing observations. Previously published studies comparing in situ water temperature measurement in coastal waters suggest significant differences in agreement among RS SST products across geographical regions (Castillo and Lima, 2010;Smit et al, 2013;Williams et al, 2013;Stobart et al, 2015;Wu et al, 2016).…”

Editorial

“…Among these papers, five papers investigated atmospheric or oceanographic phenomena and processes using satellite remote sensing data (Doronzo et al , 2017;Han et al, 2016;Pirhalla et al, 2017;Wu et al, 2016). Four papers examined hydrodynamics and regional oceanography based on numerical simulations, in-situ observations, and satellite remote sensing data (Chen et al, 2017;Luo, 2016;Shan et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2017;).…”

Surface temperature and salinity in the northern Bay of Bengal: in situ measurements compared with satellite observations and model output

“…Additionally, large biases, up to 6°C, between in situ and RS measurements were detected in 87 sites spanning the South African coastline. Although smaller in magnitude, Wu et al 25 found 1°C root mean square error (RMSE) for the Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program's ship-based SST in in the eastern Canadian shelf waters. That error was found when comparing the SST in with operational SST analyses from both the Canadian Meteorological Centre and the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction.…”