# Sea-surface temperature retrieval
*sensing . methodologies*

Retrieves ocean skin or subskin temperature from calibrated thermal-infrared split-window radiances, with passive-microwave radiometry providing coarser all-weather SST continuity.

## Specifications
- **family**: Thermal IR
- **requirements envelope**: {"kind":"spectral","spectral_range_nm":{"min":3700,"max":12000},"bands_min":2,"calibration_tier_min":"radiometric thermal calibration with atmospheric correction","daylight_required":false,"cloud_tolerant":false,"gsd_max":1000,"swath_min_km":100}
- **entity type**: methodology
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-08
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **subtype**: sensing
- **attributes**: {"family":"Thermal IR","kind":"sensing","summary":"Retrieves ocean skin or subskin temperature from calibrated thermal-infrared split-window radiances, with passive-microwave radiometry providing coarser all-weather SST continuity.","requirements_envelope":"{\"kind\":\"spectral\",\"spectral_range_nm\":{\"min\":3700,\"max\":12000},\"bands_min\":2,\"calibration_tier_min\":\"radiometric thermal calibration with atmospheric correction\",\"daylight_required\":false,\"cloud_tolerant\":false,\"gsd_max\":1000,\"swath_min_km\":100}"}
- **technology**: optical-spectral-sensing
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
Sea-surface temperature retrieval estimates the temperature of the ocean surface from calibrated radiance, not land emissivity. The high-resolution operational route is thermal-infrared split-window retrieval under clear sky; microwave SST retrieval supplies lower-resolution, cloud-penetrating continuity for all-weather ocean analyses.[^noaa-coastwatch-sst][^modis-sst-atbd] It is first-choice for SST mapping but should not be reused as a land-surface-temperature method because ocean emissivity, skin-depth, validation, and cloud-screening assumptions differ.

## Sources
- [noaa-coastwatch-sst] | Sea Surface Temperature | https://coastwatch.noaa.gov/cwn/product-families/sea-surface-temperature.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-08 | author=NOAA CoastWatch
- [modis-sst-atbd] | MODIS Infrared Sea Surface Temperature Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document | https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/atbd/atbd_mod25.pdf | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-08 | author=NASA MODIS Science Team

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/methodologies/sea-surface-temperature-retrieval
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)