![Average Land Surface Temperature [Day]](/images/datasets/132x66/MOD_LSTD_CLIM_M.jpg)
![Average Land Surface Temperature [Night]](/images/datasets/132x66/MOD_LSTN_CLIM_M.jpg)
![Land Surface Temperature Anomaly [Day]](/images/datasets/132x66/MOD_LSTAD_M.jpg)
![Land Surface Temperature Anomaly [Night]](/images/datasets/132x66/MOD_LSTAN_M.jpg)
![Land Surface Temperature [Day]](/images/datasets/132x66/MOD_LSTD_M.jpg)
![Land Surface Temperature [Night]](/images/datasets/132x66/MOD_LSTN_M.jpg)
Sea Surface Temperature (8 day - Aqua/MODIS)
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.
Related Websites
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 (8 day - Aqua/MODIS)
