ERSST

ERSST
Name	ERSST
Caption	Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature
Creator	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Released	2008
Type	Sea surface temperature dataset
Format	gridded monthly fields
Domain	Global oceans

ERSST

ERSST is the Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature dataset, a gridded, monthly reconstruction of global sea surface temperatures designed for climate monitoring and research. It integrates instrumental records, ship and buoy measurements, and statistical reconstruction techniques to produce global fields used by institutions such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Met Office. ERSST underpins analyses in projects affiliated with Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, World Meteorological Organization, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Global Climate Observing System.

Overview

ERSST provides monthly sea surface temperature (SST) fields on standardized grids for use in studies by Princeton University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. The dataset spans the instrumental era and is commonly compared with datasets from Hadley Centre, Berkeley Earth, Japan Meteorological Agency, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and Copernicus Climate Change Service. ERSST fields are used alongside reconstructions like NOAA Twentieth Century Reanalysis, HadCRUT, MLOST, COADS, and ICOADS to support assessments by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change authors and analysts at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Dataset Versions and History

ERSST has evolved through multiple numbered releases developed by teams at NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory, and collaborators from University of Washington and Princeton. Early versions were contemporary with efforts at Hadley Centre, Met Office Hadley Centre, and datasets such as ERS-1-era satellite products. Subsequent updates incorporated methodology influenced by studies from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, and analyses by James Hansen and researchers at Columbia University. Major releases addressed issues raised in comparisons with Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature, Cowtan and Way, and reconstructions used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for assessment reports.

Methodology

ERSST employs statistical reconstruction using empirical orthogonal functions and optimal interpolation techniques developed in the tradition of EOF analysis applied by groups at Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and University of Reading. The methodology draws on bias adjustment work associated with International Comprehensive Ocean–Atmosphere Data Set and homogenization approaches used by Hadley Centre researchers. Processing steps reflect methods studied in publications from American Geophysical Union, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Climate, and collaborations with University of East Anglia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists.

Data Sources and Processing

Primary inputs for ERSST include observations from merchant ships and research vessels archived in International Comprehensive Ocean–Atmosphere Data Set, ICOADS, and national archives maintained by National Oceanographic Data Center and National Climatic Data Center. Additional inputs derive from buoy networks coordinated by Global Drifter Program, Argo, and in situ programs run by Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Satellite-derived SST products from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, and Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor are used in validation and blending studies by teams at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, and European Space Agency. Quality control and bias correction steps align with protocols developed at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and evaluated in literature from Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

Uncertainty and Bias Corrections

ERSST applies bias corrections for measurement changes documented in metadata maintained by International Maritime Organization, vessel logs archived at National Archives and Records Administration, and shipboard thermometer change records studied by researchers at University of Colorado Boulder. Adjustments address known biases such as bucket measurements versus engine-intake readings identified in analyses from Hadley Centre, University of Washington, and Princeton University. Uncertainty estimation techniques reference statistical frameworks from National Research Council, and error characterizations are compared with ensemble approaches used by Coupled Model Intercomparison Project participants and studies published in Journal of Geophysical Research.

Validation and Comparisons

ERSST is routinely validated against independent products from Argo, Global Drifter Program, satellite SST retrievals from Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature, and reconstructions such as HadISST, NOAA OI SST, and COBE-SST2. Intercomparisons involve centers including Met Office Hadley Centre, Japan Meteorological Agency, Berkeley Earth, and researchers at University of Southampton and University of East Anglia. Validation studies appear in venues such as Nature Climate Change, Science, Geophysical Research Letters, and Journal of Climate, informing users at IPCC and national agencies like NOAA and NASA.

Applications and Impact

ERSST supports climate diagnostics used by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports, attribution studies by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, ocean–atmosphere coupling research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and seasonal prediction systems at European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. It informs studies of phenomena including El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, and analyses of sea surface temperature trends in contexts examined by World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. ERSST-derived fields contribute to datasets and products used by NOAA Climate Prediction Center, National Snow and Ice Data Center, and academic programs at Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University.

Category:Sea surface temperature datasets