Sea surface temperature over Tropical Indian Ocean from TRMM

Abstract

Accurate measurements of Sea Surface temperature (SST), are important for a variety of studies such as air-sea fluxes, moisture flux and also for convection over the Ocean. In the present study, we use SST retrieved from the Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) onboard the recently launched Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission (TRMM), based on a simulation model including absorption by atmospheric gases and aerosols. The split window technique is used. Further investigations on the water vapour continuum are made to get better results in the tropical and subtropical regions. The SST retrived from TRMM is validated with data from about 93 moored buoys and drifting buoys in the the Gulf of Mexico region. The SST's retrieved from both day time and night time passes correlate well with the insitu measurements. Further an interpolation method was developed to fill the cloudy pixels over the Indian Ocean. The SST retrieved were compared with the Reynolds SST as well as with the Climatological SST (from the Comprehensive Ocean Atmosphere Data Set) and the results are presented.