Sea Surface Temperature (8 day - Aqua/MODIS)

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8 day 1 mo

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January 2026

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About this dataset

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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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January 17 - 25, 2026

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1.0 degrees	360 x 180 download
0.5 degrees	720 x 360 download
0.25 degrees	1440 x 720 download
0.1 degrees	3600 x 1800 download
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Credits

Imagery processed by the NASA Earth Observations (NEO) team using data provided by the Ocean Biology Processing Group. NASA OB.DAAC.

Federal Geographic Data Committee Geospatial Metadata

View the FGDC Metatdata for Sea Surface Temperature (8 day - Aqua/MODIS)

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