Sea Surface Temperature (1 month - Aqua/MODIS)

Sea Surface Temperature (1 month - Aqua/MODIS) | NASA

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About this dataset

Sea surface temperature is the temperature of the top millimeter of the ocean's surface. Sea surface temperatures influence weather, including hurricanes, as well as plant and animal life in the ocean. Like Earth's land surface, sea surface temperatures are warmer near the equator and colder near the poles. Currents like giant rivers move warm and cold water around the world's oceans. Some of these currents flow on the surface, and they are obvious in sea surface temperature images.

Warm ocean waters help form clouds and affect weather patterns. The sea's surface temperature is also correlated to the availability of tiny ocean plants, called phytoplankton. For all of these reasons scientists monitor the sea's surface temperature. These maps show satellite measurements of the sea's surface temperature for a given day, or for a span of days.

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September 2024

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Related Websites

MODIS

Aqua

Further Reading

Sea Surface Temperature

East Australian Current

Warm Waters in the Chesapeake

An Emerald Vortex

Hurricane Michael Heads for Florida

Credits

Imagery processed by the NASA Earth Observations (NEO) team in collaboration with Gene Feldman and Norman Kuring, NASA OceanColor Group.

Federal Geographic Data Committee Geospatial Metadata

View the FGDC Metatdata for Sea Surface Temperature (1 month - Aqua/MODIS)

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