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https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-542
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-542
19 Mar 2024
 | 19 Mar 2024

Shipborne Comparison of Infrared and Passive Microwave Radiometers for Sea Surface Temperature Observations

Guisella Gacitúa, Jacob L. Høyer, Sten Schmidl Søbjærg, Hoyeon Shi, Sotirios Skarpalezos, Ioanna Karagali, Emy Alerskans, and Craig Donlon

Abstract. In the spring of 2021, a shipborne comparison of sea surface temperature (SST) measurements was undertaken using Thermal Infrared (TIR) and Passive Microwave (PMW) radiometers. The Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) jointly deployed two TIR and two PMW instruments aboard the Norröna ferry, which traversed between Denmark and Iceland for a week. The primary objective was to assess the proximity-based comparison of TIR and PMW measurements, minimizing atmospheric influences and providing valuable insights into skin (TIR) and sub-skin (PMW) SSTs. A linear regression algorithm was developed using TIR SST data as a reference to derive PMW SST from brightness temperature. The data analysis primarily focused on evaluating data variability, identifying discrepancies between TIR and PMW SST, and assessing the overall uncertainty in the retrieval process. The overall root mean squared error (RMSE) of the retrieved PMW SST was 0.88 K during the ship’s motion and 0.94 K under stable conditions when the ship was moored. The analysis of the retrieved SST error budget involved the consideration of observed quantities and a forward model, accounting for factors like instrument noise, wind speed, incident angles, and the RMSE of skin and sub-skin temperature. The resulting error budget indicated 0.97 K for the data acquired during motion and 0.34 K for data collected during port stay.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

16 Dec 2024
Shipborne comparison of infrared and passive microwave radiometers for sea surface temperature observations
Guisella Gacitúa, Jacob Lorentsen Høyer, Sten Schmidl Søbjærg, Hoyeon Shi, Sotirios Skarpalezos, Ioanna Karagali, Emy Alerskans, and Craig Donlon
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 373–391, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-373-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-373-2024, 2024
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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

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This study presents a shipborne intercomparison of sea surface temperature (SST) using thermal...
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