Skin Sea‐Surface Temperature from VIIRS on Suomi‐NPP—NASA Continuity Retrievals

Retrievals of skin Sea‐Surface Temperature (SSTskin) from the measurements of the Visible
Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the Suomi‐National Polar‐orbiting Partnership satellite are
presented and discussed. The algorithms used to derive the SSTskin from the radiometric
measurements are given in detail. A number of approaches to assess the accuracy and stability of
the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) SSTskin retrievals are reported, and factors
including latitude and season, and physical processes in the atmosphere and at the surface are
discussed. We conclude that the Suomi National Polar‐orbiting Partnership (S‐NPP) VIIRS is
capable of matching and improving upon the accuracies of SSTskin from the MODISs on Terra and
Aqua, and that the VIIRS SSTskin fields have the potential to contribute to the extension of the satellitederived
Climate Data Records of SST into the future.