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Full catalog/N21-VIIRS-L2P-ACSPO-v2.80
N21-VIIRS-L2P-ACSPO-v2.80·v2.80·dataset

Sea surface temperature (VIIRS, NOAA-21)

GHRSST Level 2P NOAA ACSPO SST v2.80 from VIIRS on NOAA-21 Satellite
ocean NASA POCLOUD Level 2P netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. The temperature of the ocean's surface, measured just below the very top skin of the water. Each file covers a strip of ocean the satellite flew over.

How it's made. Derived from the VIIRS instrument on the NOAA-21 satellite at its full sensor detail (under a kilometer near the center of the swath), processed by NOAA's clear-sky ocean system that flags clouds, ice, and other interference.

How & where you'd use it. Feeds weather and ocean forecasting, marine heatwave monitoring, fisheries, and climate records; the quality flags let users keep only the most trustworthy, cloud-free readings.

What's measured

OCEANS › OCEAN TEMPERATURE › SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE › SEA SURFACE SKIN TEMPERATURE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2023-03-19 → ongoing
  • Measured byNOAA-21 (VIIRS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2P
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Watch sea-surface temperature and marine heatwaves
  • Spot algal blooms and ocean-colour shifts
  • Support fisheries and coastal monitoring
Official description

The N21-VIIRS-L2P-ACSPO-v2.80 dataset produced by the NOAA ACSPO system derives the Subskin Sea Surface Temperature (SST) from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-2 satellite, renamed as NOAA-21 (N21). N21 was launched on Nov. 10, 2022, the 3rd satellite in the US NOAA latest JPSS series. VIIRS L2P SST products are derived at the native sensor resolution (~0.75 km at nadir, ~1.5 km at swath edge) using NOAA's Advanced Clear-Sky Processor for Ocean (ACSPO) system (Jonasson et al. 2022). Data are reported in 10-minute granules in netCDF4 format, compliant with the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Data Specification version 2 (GDS2). The ACSPO N21 VIIRS SST record is available back to 19 Mar 2023. In ACSPO products, SSTs are derived using the Non-Linear SST (NLSST) algorithms (Petrenko et al., 2014). An ACSPO clear-sky mask (ACSM) is provided in each pixel as part of variable l2p_flags, which also includes day/night, land, ice, twilight, and glint flags (Petrenko et al., 2010). Only ACSM confidently clear pixels with quality level QL=5 are recommended. Per GDS2 specifications, two additional Sensor-Specific Error Statistics layers (SSES bias and standard deviation) are reported in each pixel with QL=5. The ACSPO VIIRS L2P product is monitored and validated against quality controlled in situ data provided by NOAA in situ SST Quality Monitor system (iQuam) using another NOAA system, SST Quality Monitor (SQUAM). A reduced size (0.5GB/day), equal-angle gridded (0.02-deg resolution), ACSPO N21 VIIRS L3U product is also available (10.5067/GHV21-3U280) (Ignatov et al., 2017).

Get the data

n21-viirs-l2p-acspo-v2.80_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="N21-VIIRS-L2P-ACSPO-v2.80",
    version="2.80",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from POCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.