AVHRR Pathfinder version 5.3 level 3 collated (L3C) global 4km sea surface temperature for 1981-2023
The AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.3 (PFV53) L3C Sea Surface Temperature dataset is a collection of global, twice-daily (Day and Night) 4km sea surface temperature (SST) data produced by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). L3C is generated with measurements combined from a single instrument into a space-time grid. In this process multiple passes/scenes of data are combined. PFV53 was computed with data from the AVHRR instruments on board NOAA's polar orbiting satellite series using an entirely modernized system based on SeaDAS (version 6.4). This system incorporates several key changes from its predecessors (mainly version 5.2: PFV52). The SSTs in PFV53 are now available for all quality levels, including quality '0' which was left out of PFV52 due to a memory issue in the version 5.2 code. The Sun glint regions are better represented in the data. Cloud tree tests for NOAA-7 and NOAA-19 are now consistent with the rest of the sensors in contrast to PFV52 where they were inconsistent. Similar to all previous versions of Pathfinder this version also includes L3C products. The sst_dtime variable is still not included in L3C (it was not included in PFV52 either). The global and variables attributes in netCDF files are revised, have better CF and ACDD compliance, and are consistent with the NCEI netCDF templates. Anomalous hot-spots at land-water boundaries are better identified and flagged in PFV53. The PFV53 land mask has been updated (based on Global Lakes and Wetlands Database: Lakes and Wetlands Grid Level 3, 2015). Sea ice data over the Antarctic ice shelves are marked as ice and flagged as 100% ice cover. The PFV53 output are netCDF version 4 in "classic" mode, whereas in PFV52 the netCDF-4 files were not explicitly identified as "classic". An extra bit (bit 6) is used under l2p_flags variable to flag out the daytime unrealistic SST values (>39.8°C) that remain in pf_quality_level 4 to 7. Users are recommended to avoid these values.
Importantly, PFV53 data provided in netCDF-4 (classic model, with internal compression and chunking) are nearly 100% compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification Version 2.0 (GDS2.0 revision 5) requirements. However, it must be noted that in L3C data the variables sses_bias, sses_standard_deviation, and sst_dtime are still empty. PFV53 data were collected through the operational periods of the NOAA-7 through NOAA-19 Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES), and are available from 1981 through Present. Data for all these years are available as multiple NCEI accessions. PFV5.3 production is running on operational mode and will be updated on quarterly basis.
Complete Metadata
| @type | dcat:Dataset |
|---|---|
| accessLevel | non-public |
| contactPoint |
{
"fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
"@type": "vcard:Contact",
"hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.info@noaa.gov"
}
|
| describedByType | application/octet-steam |
| description | The AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.3 (PFV53) L3C Sea Surface Temperature dataset is a collection of global, twice-daily (Day and Night) 4km sea surface temperature (SST) data produced by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). L3C is generated with measurements combined from a single instrument into a space-time grid. In this process multiple passes/scenes of data are combined. PFV53 was computed with data from the AVHRR instruments on board NOAA's polar orbiting satellite series using an entirely modernized system based on SeaDAS (version 6.4). This system incorporates several key changes from its predecessors (mainly version 5.2: PFV52). The SSTs in PFV53 are now available for all quality levels, including quality '0' which was left out of PFV52 due to a memory issue in the version 5.2 code. The Sun glint regions are better represented in the data. Cloud tree tests for NOAA-7 and NOAA-19 are now consistent with the rest of the sensors in contrast to PFV52 where they were inconsistent. Similar to all previous versions of Pathfinder this version also includes L3C products. The sst_dtime variable is still not included in L3C (it was not included in PFV52 either). The global and variables attributes in netCDF files are revised, have better CF and ACDD compliance, and are consistent with the NCEI netCDF templates. Anomalous hot-spots at land-water boundaries are better identified and flagged in PFV53. The PFV53 land mask has been updated (based on Global Lakes and Wetlands Database: Lakes and Wetlands Grid Level 3, 2015). Sea ice data over the Antarctic ice shelves are marked as ice and flagged as 100% ice cover. The PFV53 output are netCDF version 4 in "classic" mode, whereas in PFV52 the netCDF-4 files were not explicitly identified as "classic". An extra bit (bit 6) is used under l2p_flags variable to flag out the daytime unrealistic SST values (>39.8°C) that remain in pf_quality_level 4 to 7. Users are recommended to avoid these values. Importantly, PFV53 data provided in netCDF-4 (classic model, with internal compression and chunking) are nearly 100% compliant with the GHRSST Data Specification Version 2.0 (GDS2.0 revision 5) requirements. However, it must be noted that in L3C data the variables sses_bias, sses_standard_deviation, and sst_dtime are still empty. PFV53 data were collected through the operational periods of the NOAA-7 through NOAA-19 Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES), and are available from 1981 through Present. Data for all these years are available as multiple NCEI accessions. PFV5.3 production is running on operational mode and will be updated on quarterly basis. |
| distribution |
[
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "4 km AVHRR Pathfinder Project",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page.",
"downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/avhrr-pathfinder-sst",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Registry of Open Data on AWS",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page.",
"downloadURL": "https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-cdr-oceanic/",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Azure Landing Page (Region: us-east)",
"accessURL": "https://microsoft.github.io/AIforEarthDataSets/data/noaa-cdr.html",
"description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page.",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page with download links.",
"downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.7289/v52j68xx",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Granule Search",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Search for data granules belonging to this collection (a granule is the smallest aggregation of data that can be independently described and retrieved).",
"downloadURL": "https://data.noaa.gov/onestop/collections/granules/AWbwlBo7HtVRBOAZkBS_",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "THREDDS",
"accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/thredds-ocean/catalog/pathfinder/Version5.3/L3C/catalog.html",
"description": "These data are available through a variety of services via a THREDDS (Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services) Data Server (TDS). Depending on the dataset, the TDS can provide WMS, WCS, DAP, HTTP, and other data access and metadata services as well. For more information on the TDS, see http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/thredds/current/tds/.",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "HTTPS",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Navigate directly to the URL for data access and direct download.",
"downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/pathfinder/Version5.3/L3C/",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "FTP",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "These data are available through the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is no longer supported by most internet browsers. You may copy and paste the FTP link to the data into an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla or WinSCP).",
"downloadURL": "ftp://ftp-oceans.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data.nodc/pathfinder/Version5.3/L3C/",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "https://doi.org/10.25923/acwh-yc52",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "NOAA Central Library: Technical Report",
"downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.25923/acwh-yc52",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/climate-data-records/pathfinder-sea-surface-temperature",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "CDR documentation",
"downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/climate-data-records/pathfinder-sea-surface-temperature",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_16",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "chapter in book",
"downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_16",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jc000065",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "related journal article",
"downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jc000065",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/ghrsst-long-term-stewardship-and-reanalysis-facility/",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "archive website",
"downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/ghrsst-long-term-stewardship-and-reanalysis-facility/",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0207879",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Documentation",
"downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0207879",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "GCMD Keyword Forum Page",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
"downloadURL": "https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "NCEI Contact Information",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Information for contacts at NCEI.",
"downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
}
]
|
| identifier | gov.noaa.nodc:AVHRR_Pathfinder-NCEI-L3C-v5.3 |
| issued | 2015-07-07T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| keyword |
[
"0129789",
"0129818",
"0156457",
"0156458",
"0156463",
"0156468",
"0156476",
"0156478",
"0156483",
"0156487",
"0156492",
"0156498",
"0156505",
"0156512",
"0156518",
"0156522",
"0156527",
"0156528",
"0156531",
"0156558",
"0156561",
"0156562",
"0156565",
"0156577",
"0156583",
"0156585",
"0156590",
"0156595",
"0156613",
"0156615",
"0156620",
"0156625",
"0156630",
"0156634",
"0173379",
"0173436",
"0173516",
"0173529",
"0187901",
"0209645",
"0229122",
"0258186",
"0278919",
"ICE - COVERAGE",
"SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE",
"WIND SPEED",
"AVHRR-2",
"AVHRR-3",
"physical",
"satellite data",
"NOAA-11",
"NOAA-14",
"NOAA-16",
"NOAA-17",
"NOAA-18",
"NOAA-19",
"NOAA-7",
"NOAA-9",
"NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
"NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
"Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST)",
"Pathfinder",
"World-Wide Distribution",
"oceanography",
"DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
"GHRSST > Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature",
"NOAA OneStop Project",
"NOAA/NASA PATHFINDER > NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Program",
"EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > SURFACE WINDS > WIND SPEED",
"EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE",
"EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SEA ICE > ICE EXTENT",
"latitude",
"longitude",
"sea_ice_area_fraction",
"sea_surface_skin_temperature",
"time",
"wind_speed",
"AVHRR-2 > Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer-2",
"AVHRR-3 > Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer-3",
"NOAA-11 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-11",
"NOAA-14 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-14",
"NOAA-16 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-16",
"NOAA-17 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-17",
"NOAA-18 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-18",
"NOAA-19 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-19",
"NOAA-7 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-7",
"NOAA-9 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-9",
"NOAA-11 (ICES code: 3101, 1988-2004)",
"NOAA-14 (ICES code: 3277, 1994-2007)",
"NOAA-16 (ICES code: 33J9, 2000-2014)",
"NOAA-17 (ICES code: 33ZS, 2002-2013)",
"NOAA-18 (ICES code: 33WM, 2005-2016)",
"NOAA-19 (ICES code: 33Y9, 2009-2016)",
"NOAA-7 (ICES code: 33V2, 1981-1986)",
"NOAA-9 (ICES code: 33OO, 1984-1998)",
"GEOGRAPHIC REGION > GLOBAL OCEAN"
]
|
| landingPage | https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact |
| language |
[]
|
| license | https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ |
| modified | 2024-02-22T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| publisher |
{
"name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
"@type": "org:Organization"
}
|
| references |
[
"https://doi.org/10.25923/acwh-yc52",
"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/climate-data-records/pathfinder-sea-surface-temperature",
"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/avhrr-pathfinder-sst",
"https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_16",
"https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jc000065",
"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/ghrsst-long-term-stewardship-and-reanalysis-facility/",
"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0207879"
]
|
| rights | otherRestrictions |
| spatial | 180.0,-90.0,-180.0,90.0 |
| temporal | 1981-08-25T00:00:00+00:00/2023-12-31T00:00:00+00:00 |
| title | AVHRR Pathfinder version 5.3 level 3 collated (L3C) global 4km sea surface temperature for 1981-2023 |
