Optimally interpolated infrared and microwave sea surface temperatures: the Multi-sensor Improved SST (MISST) Project

The MISST project focuses on (1) producing an improved global, daily, high-resolution, sea surface temperature (SST) product through the combination of observations from complementary infrared and microwave sensors and (2) demonstrating the impact of improved multi-sensor SST products on operational ocean models, numerical weather prediction, and tropical cyclone intensity forecasting. Producing a high- quality multi-sensor SST requires careful inter-calibration of different satellite sensors, calculation of sensor- specific observation errors that consider environmental variables, location of observation, time of day, and sensor calibration problems; development of techniques for relating and combining measurements at different depths, spatial resolutions, and times of the day; and implementation of data fusion methodologies. This project will make a direct US contribution to the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) by working within the GODAE High-Resolution SST Pilot Project (GHRSST-PP), initiated by the international GODAE steering team, to coordinate the production of a new high-resolution SST.