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Description

A global Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Level 2P dataset based on retrievals from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). This sensor resides on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite launched on 28 October 2011.
The VIIRS instrument is a a 22-band, multi-spectral scanning radiometer with a 3040-km swath width that builds on the heritage of the MODIS , AVHRR and SeaWIFS sensors for sea surface temperature (SST) and ocean color. For the infrared bands for SST the effective pixel size is 740 meters at nadir and the pixel size variation across the swath is constrained to no more than 1600 meters at the edge of the swath. However, the processing of this dataset aggregates two pixels into one so the resolution is 1500 meters at nadir. This dataset adheres to the GHRSST Data Processing Specification (GDS) version 2 format specifications.

Product Summary

Platforms
Suomi-NPP
Instruments
VIIRS
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
750 Meters x 750 Meters
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2013-05-20 to 2016-02-25
Data Partner
Naval Oceanographic Office, U.S. Navy, U.S. Department of Defense (DOD/USNAVY/NAVOCEANO) ,
Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/PODAAC)
Concept ID
C1996881807-POCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
980050
Processing Level
2P
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Sea Surface Skin 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

DOD/USNAVY/NAVOCEANO. (2012). GHRSST Level 2P Global 1 meter Sea Surface Temperature from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite (GDS version 2) [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/GHVRS-2PN02 Date Accessed: 2026-04-19

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

DATA CITATION GUIDELINES

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
adi_dtime_from_sst time difference with NAAPS forecast hour byte -128 -127 to 127 0.1 N/A
aerosol_dynamic_indicator Aerosol optical depth provided from the Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System (NAAPS) global aerosol prediction system. count byte -128 -127 to 127 0.006 0.75
brightness_temperature_4um non L2P core field; brightness temperature for 3.7 um channel VIIRS M12 kelvin short -32768 -5000 to 5000 0.01 273.15
brightness_temperature_11um non L2P core field; brightness temperature for 10.8 um channel VIIRS M15 kelvin short -32768 -5000 to 5000 0.01 273.15
brightness_temperature_12um non L2P core field; brightness temperature for 12.0 um channel VIIRS M16 kelvin short -32768 -5000 to 5000 0.01 273.15
dt_analysis Deviation from NAVOCEANO 10-km SST gridded field (K10) kelvin byte -128 -127 to 127 0.1 N/A
l2p_flags no retrieval made on land or ice. SST over lakes and river are not identified N/A short 2048 0 to 2047 1 N/A
lat Latitude of retrievals degrees_north float N/A -90 to 90 1 N/A
lon Longitude of retrievals degrees_east float N/A -180 to 180 1 N/A
quality_level Based on NAVOCEANO reliability estimates N/A byte 0 0 to 5 1 N/A
satellite_zenith_angle satellite zenith angle angular degree byte -128 -127 to 127 1 N/A
sea_surface_temperature SST obtained by regression from buoy measurements at 1 m depth kelvin short -32768 -5000 to 5000 0.01 273.15
sses_bias Updated daily based on previous month match-ups kelvin byte -128 -127 to 127 0.01 N/A
sses_standard_deviation Updated daily based on previous month match-ups kelvin byte -128 -127 to 127 0.01 1
sst_dtime none second short -32768 -32767 to -32767 0.25 N/A
time seconds since 1981-01-01 00:00:00 seconds since 1981-01-01 00:00:00 int N/A N/A 1 N/A
wind_speed wind speed is not available m s-1 byte -128 -127 to 127 0.15 N/A
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