Chapter 16
The Past, Present, and Future of the AVHRR
Pathfinder SST Program
Kenneth S. Casey, Tess B. Brandon, Peter Cornillon, and Robert Evans
16.1 Introduction
With today’s modern satellite sensors, many oceanic parameters are capable of
being observed from space. Of these, only sea surface temperature (SST) from the
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) series on board the NOAA
polar-orbiting satellites enjoys an unbroken, nearly 30-year long history of observation from the same class of instrument. These AVHRR observations date back
to 1981, when the first five-channel AVHRR flew on board the NOAA-7 platform.
The AVHRR series continues to fly today, and will continue perhaps another 10
years into the future on board the remaining NOAA polar orbiting satellites and the
European METOP platforms.
Early in the life of this series of instruments, NASA Headquarters conceived
the Pathfinder program to support the needs of the US Global Change Research
Program (King and Greenstone, 1999). These Pathfinder efforts were to provide
unprecedented access to large volumes of consistently processed satellite datasets,
in advance of the launch of the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites.
Climate-quality datasets would be generated and made available, providing valuable experience in reprocessing, archiving, and distributing large satellite data sets.
Thus, these Pathfinder efforts would “find the path” forward in preparation for the
ambitious EOS series of instruments and missions that were to follow.
In October of 1990, NOAA and NASA signed a Cooperative Agreement to commence work on three joint NOAA/NASA Pathfinder projects. These joint projects
would use existing NOAA datasets, focusing on AVHRR Global Area Coverage
(GAC) data, the Television and Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) Operational
Vertical Sounder (TOVS) data, and the Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellite (GOES) data. Several months later, in 1991, a project involving Special
Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data, which was archived by NOAA under an
agreement with the US Navy, became the fourth NOAA/NASA Pathfinder. In 1992
K.S. Casey (B)
NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA
e-mail: Kenneth.Casey@noaa.gov
273
V. Barale et al. (eds.), Oceanography from Space,
DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_16, C
All Rights Reserved
The Past, Present, and Future of the AVHRR
Pathfinder SST Program
Kenneth S. Casey, Tess B. Brandon, Peter Cornillon, and Robert Evans
16.1 Introduction
With today’s modern satellite sensors, many oceanic parameters are capable of
being observed from space. Of these, only sea surface temperature (SST) from the
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) series on board the NOAA
polar-orbiting satellites enjoys an unbroken, nearly 30-year long history of observation from the same class of instrument. These AVHRR observations date back
to 1981, when the first five-channel AVHRR flew on board the NOAA-7 platform.
The AVHRR series continues to fly today, and will continue perhaps another 10
years into the future on board the remaining NOAA polar orbiting satellites and the
European METOP platforms.
Early in the life of this series of instruments, NASA Headquarters conceived
the Pathfinder program to support the needs of the US Global Change Research
Program (King and Greenstone, 1999). These Pathfinder efforts were to provide
unprecedented access to large volumes of consistently processed satellite datasets,
in advance of the launch of the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites.
Climate-quality datasets would be generated and made available, providing valuable experience in reprocessing, archiving, and distributing large satellite data sets.
Thus, these Pathfinder efforts would “find the path” forward in preparation for the
ambitious EOS series of instruments and missions that were to follow.
In October of 1990, NOAA and NASA signed a Cooperative Agreement to commence work on three joint NOAA/NASA Pathfinder projects. These joint projects
would use existing NOAA datasets, focusing on AVHRR Global Area Coverage
(GAC) data, the Television and Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) Operational
Vertical Sounder (TOVS) data, and the Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellite (GOES) data. Several months later, in 1991, a project involving Special
Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data, which was archived by NOAA under an
agreement with the US Navy, became the fourth NOAA/NASA Pathfinder. In 1992
K.S. Casey (B)
NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA
e-mail: Kenneth.Casey@noaa.gov
273
V. Barale et al. (eds.), Oceanography from Space,
DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_16, C
All Rights Reserved