35 Years of Sea Surface Temperature

This week we’ve added several decades of historical NOAA Daily OISST data to our Datahub. The dataset is an analysis constructed by combining observations from different platforms (satellites, ships, buoys) on a regular global grid, with values from 1981 until now.

In addition to standard sea surface temperature, the Daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature dataset also includes SST anomalies, which means the daily OISST minus a 30-year climatological mean.

The Daily OISST data are great for investigating upwellings and downwellings, and have been used to track signs of El Niño and La Niña. In fact, forecasters now think there’s a 70% chance that La Niña conditions will develop this fall.

Looking for Earth data? Explore the Planet OS Datahub.

Originally published at planetos.com on November 3, 2016.