4 km NODC/RSMAS AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.0 and 5.1 Monthly Harmonic Climatologies (1982-2008) (NODC Accession 0075098)

This accession contains a global, 4km monthly sea surface temperature climatology derived from harmonic analysis of the AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.0 and 5.1 sea surface temperature time series data for 1982-2008. The climatology is available as 12 separate files, each representing one month in a climatological year. The files are in netCDF-4 and fully comply with the GHRSST Data Specification 2.0 for Level 4 products. In addition to climatological sea surface temperature, each file contains standard deviation, sea ice concentration, sea ice concentration error, and land mask information.

This accession also includes a 'classic,' or mean, monthly sea surface temperature climatology derived from the same Pathfinder time series data. This climatology was used to gap-fill the harmonic climatology, and provided the standard deviation information. It is available as 12 separate files in Hierarchical Data Format Version 4 (HDF4).

In some ice-dominated high-latitude areas, the harmonic climatology is poorly constrained due to uneven distribution throughout the year of the valid measurements. For example, at 82.6N, 48W off the coast of Greenland, temperatures estimated in the harmonic climatology reach over 35C. In these regions, the classic, averaged climatological values may be more reliable.

Associated daily and 5-day harmonic climatologies are archived at NODC under accessions 0071181 and 0071182, respectively.