DOI: 10.3886/e233444v1
title: Climate.gov Data Snapshots: SST - Sea Surface Temperature

description: <b>Q: What's the temperature of water at the ocean's surface?
</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A:</b> Colors
 on the map show the temperature of water right at the ocean’s surface. 
The darkest blue shows the coldest water: floating sea ice is usually 
present in these areas. Lighter shades of blue show temperatures of up 
to 80°F. White and orange areas show where surface temperatures are 
higher than 80°F, warm enough to fuel tropical cyclones or hurricanes.

 
 <br><b>Q: Where do these measurements come from?
</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A:</b> Satellite
 instruments measure sea surface temperature—often abbreviated as SST—by
 checking how much energy comes off the ocean at different wavelengths. 
Computer programs merge sea surface temperatures from ships and buoys 
with the satellite data, and incorporate information from maps of sea 
ice. To produce the daily maps, programs invoke mathematical filters to 
combine and smooth data from all three sources.

 
 <br><b>Q: What do the colors mean?</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A:</b> The
 darkest blue areas show sea surface temperatures as low as 28°F. Sea 
ice, which can look like anything from a slushy mix of floating ice 
crystals to a solid surface of white, is usually present in these areas.
 Progressively lighter shades of blue show increasingly warmer 
temperatures, up to 80°F. White and orange areas on the map show where 
the surface temperature is above 80°F. Tropical storms that cross these 
areas can strengthen to form cyclones and hurricanes.

 
 <br><b>Q: Why do these data matter?</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A:</b> While
 heat energy is stored and mixed throughout the depth of the ocean, the 
temperature of water right at the sea's surface—where the ocean is in 
direct contact with the atmosphere—plays a significant role in weather 
and short-term climate. Where sea surface temperatures are high, 
relatively large amounts of heat energy and moisture enter the 
atmosphere, sometimes producing powerful, drenching storms downwind. 
Conversely, lower sea surface temperatures mean less evaporation. Global
 patterns of sea surface temperatures are an important factor for 
weather forecasts and climate outlooks.

 
 <br><b>Q: How did you produce these snapshots?</b><b>
 </b><br><b>A:</b> Data
 Snapshots are derivatives of existing data products: to meet the needs 
of a broad audience, we present the source data in a simplified visual 
style. NOAA's Climate Data Records Program produces the Opitimum 
Interpolated Sea Surface Temperature files. To produce our images, we 
run a set of scripts that access the source files, re-project them into 
desired projections at various sizes, and output them with a custom 
color bar.

 
 
 <br><b>Additional information</b>
 Various 
scientific groups have produced datasets showing Sea Surface 
Temperature. The images in Data Snapshots represent the AVHRR-only 1/4° 
daily OISST dataset. Data snapshots presents just one daily OISST image 
every seven days

 
 <br><b>References</b>
 
 Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature Technical Notes [pdf]

Climate
 Data Record (CDR) Program Climate Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document 
(C-ATBD) Daily 1/4° Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature 
(OISST)

<br>Richard W. Reynolds, Thomas M. Smith, Chunying Liu, Dudley B. 
Chelton, Kenneth S. Casey, and Michael G. Schlax, 2007: Daily 
High-Resolution-Blended Analyses for Sea Surface Temperature. J. Climate, 20, 5473–5496. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2007JCLI1824.1 <br>Improvements of the Daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (DOISST) Version 2.1 <br>

About Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST) v2.1 
 <br>Source: https://www.climate.gov/maps-data/data-snapshots/data-source/sst-sea-surface-temperature
 




<br>This upload includes two additional files:<br>* SST - Sea Surface Temperature _NOAA Climate.gov.pdf is a screenshot of the main Climate.gov site for these snapshots (https://www.climate.gov/maps-data/data-snapshots/data-source/sst-sea-surface-temperature)<br>* Cimate_gov_ Data Snapshots.pdf is a screenshot of the data download page for the full-resolution files. <br><br><br>
description: Data is divided in to folders by image resolution -- full size (zip) and large (png). Occasionally there may be one image missing in a particular size but available in another size.<br><br>Data downloaded from climate.gov 6/17/2025