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. A number of new SST data sets and several blended global SSTs are currently being produced by this project. These new SST data sets have ancillary information important for research and climate studies. The impact of the high-resolution blended global SSTs on operational weather prediction, hurricane intensity prediction, and radiance assimilation is being evaluated. These new products and the impact studies will be discussed in detail. 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.