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Description

The GHRSST Level 4 SPoRT Global Foundation Sea Surface Temperature Analysis (v1.0) dataset is produced by the by the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) project to provide continuous high-resolution composited near global (80N – 80S) sea surface temperature fields twice daily at 2 km resolution for regional weather, maritime, and coastal applications. <br><br>
It was originally a regional L4 dataset based on MODIS Aqua/Terra Level 2 SST inputs. Currently, the SPoRT SST analysis composites seven-days of Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite L2 SST data, with additional data from OSTIA and Geo-Polar Blended L4 SST products into a single analysis. Two types of weighting are used in the compositing process. One weight is for the data latency and the other for the product type and spatial resolution. The VIIRS and AVHRR data, being at 750m and 1km resolution respectively, are given the most weight, while the L4 datasets are given weaker weights. <br><br>
This SPoRT SST dataset adheres to the GHRSST Data Specification (GDS) version 2 format specifications with full netCDF-4 and metadata compliance. The SPoRT project is funded by NASA and the data produced at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

Version Description

Version 1.0 of the dataset

Product Summary

Platforms
Suomi-NPP ,
NOAA-20 ,
METOP-B ,
METOP-C ,
NOAA-21
Instruments
VIIRS ,
AVHRR-3
Spatial Extent

N: 80 S: -80 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
0.018 Decimal Degrees x 0.018 Decimal Degrees
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2023-09-01
Temporal Resolution
Constant
Data Partner
National Space Science and Technology Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/MSFC/NSSTC) ,
Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/PODAAC)
Concept ID
C3378626164-POCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
1911
Processing Level
4
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Sea Surface Temperature

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) project. (2025). GHRSST L4 Global Sea Surface Foundation Temperature version 1.0 [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/GHSPT-4FM01 Date Accessed: 2026-04-17

Documents

Variables

The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR). Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables. Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data, user guide, and/or other product documentation.

For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor Offset
analysed_sst NASA SPoRT Composite SST kelvin short -32768 -315 to 4685 0.01 273.15
analysis_error +/- standard deviation kelvin short -32768 0 to 10000 0.01 N/A
lat Latitude geographical coordinates, WGS84 projection degrees_north float -32768 -80 to 80 1 N/A
latency Represents the integer days since the last satellite SST observation at the pixel level. Pixels with a value of -9 represent land and therefore are not associated with SST values. A pixel value of 7 means that SST values were exclusively derived from OSTIA and/or NESDIS SSTs. In other words, the pixels did not have any valid satellite SSTs from the various VIIRS and/or AVHRR instruments over the previous 7-days. Days since last satellite observation byte -9 0 to 7 1 N/A
lon Longitude geographical coordinates, WGS84 projection degrees_east float -32768 -180 to 180 1 N/A
mask water/land/ice bit mask N/A byte N/A 1 to 6 1 N/A
sea_ice_fraction Sea Ice Area Fraction N/A byte -128 0 to 100 0.01 N/A
time time of first sensor observation seconds since 1981-01-01 00:00:00 int N/A N/A 1 N/A
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