How are SST anomalies calculated?

Weekly and Monthly SST Anomaly Products are calculated by subtracting a SST climatology (8-day or monthly from 1985 to 2014) from a SST composite (8-day or monthly).

What is a positive SST anomaly?

Areas in purple to blue mean a negative anomaly; that is, the water temperature is cooler than the mean. Orange to red means a positive anomaly: the temperature is warmer than the mean. The values range from -5 to 5°C.

What causes SST to rise?

As the oceans absorb more heat, sea surface temperature increases, and the ocean circulation patterns that transport warm and cold water around the globe change.

How is SST measured?

To measure SST, scientists deploy temperature sensors on satellites, buoys, ships, ocean reference stations, and through marine telemetry. The NOAA-led U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) and NOAA’s Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) merge their data to provide SSTs worldwide.

What is water temperature anomaly?

Sea surface temperature is the temperature of the top millimeter of the ocean’s surface. An anomaly is a departure from average conditions. These maps compare temperatures in a given month to the long-term average temperature of that month from 1985 through 1997.

What does a positive anomaly mean and what does a negative anomaly mean?

A positive anomaly indicates that the observed temperature was warmer than the reference value, while a negative anomaly indicates that the observed temperature was cooler than the reference value.

What does SST stand for in oceanography?

Sea surface temperatures (SST) are the most common use of thermal satellite data over aquatic targets, although when focusing on inland water bodies (i.e., lakes and reservoirs), several factors must be considered.

What affects water temperature?

What Factors Influence Water Temperature? Water temperature can be affected by many ambient conditions. These elements include sunlight/solar radiation, heat transfer from the atmosphere, stream confluence and turbidity. Shallow and surface waters are more easily influenced by these factors than deep water 37.

How often does La Niña occur?

Episodes of El Niño and La Niña typically last nine to 12 months, but can sometimes last for years. El Niño and La Niña events occur every two to seven years, on average, but they don’t occur on a regular schedule. Generally, El Niño occurs more frequently than La Niña.

What is an SST anomaly?

Monthly SST anomaly – deviation of the trimmed 1-degree SST monthly mean (#2) from the climatological mean SST (#5) No. of Obs. Trimmed based on climatology – number of sst values in each 1 degree box for each month which deviate from the climatological mean by more than three standard deviations No. of Obs.

What is the areal coverage of the SST analysis?

The actual areal coverage of the analysis and the anomally data is roughly between 60°S and 60°N globally. These analyses were based on ship and buoy SST data supplemented with satellite SST retrievals.

What is included in the SST analyses?

The SST analyses are separated into Eastern Pacific and Atlantic domains. An analysis and anomaly chart are produced for each domain. The analysis chart contains the current SST comprised from current observations.

How is the optimum interpolation SST analysis produced?

The optimum interpolation (OIv2) SST analysis is produced weekly on a one-degree grid. The analysis uses buoy and ship data, satellite SST data, and SST’s simulated by sea-ice coverage. Before the analysis is computed, the satellite data is adjusted for biases using the method described by Reynolds (1988) and Reynolds and Marsico (1993).