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K.S. Casey et al.
a NASA/EPA/USGS Landsat Pathfinder project was formed, as was the first NASAonly Pathfinder, using Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR)
data. Funding for these activities came mainly from NASA.
Each of the Pathfinder projects would form a Science Working Group (SWG)
that would determine the specific products to be created based on scientific need,
identify community-consensus algorithms to generate those products, and make
recommendations on product validation, storage, maintenance, and required data
services. A NASA Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) would then make the
data available, as would the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
Because the AVHRR data stream was perceived to be of value to several different
areas in the Earth sciences, three product science working groups were formed under
the AVHRR SWG umbrella: an atmosphere SWG, a land SWG and an oceans SWG
(OSWG in the following). The official goals of the AVHRR Pathfinder projects,
as presented on 08 January 1992 by Mary James of NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center to a group that included the project chairpersons, were:
• To produce long term global datasets for research, modeling, and trend analysis.
Datasets were to be consistently processed with the best available community
consensus algorithms.
• To produce multiple geophysical products from a common input stream using
integrated processing concepts.
• To assemble a consistent, low maintenance, readily accessible archive for
AVHRR data with browse and on-line access capabilities.
In December of 1994 a Pathfinder NASA Research Announcement was released,
marking the transition from the first phase to a second phase of the Pathfinder
datasets. The NRA emphasized building long-term datasets and addressing consistency issues that arise when linking together multiple sensors over time. This
second phase ended in 2001, which marked the formal end of NASA support for the
NOAA/NASA Pathfinder efforts. However, because of the successes obtained and
momentum built over the previous decade, some of these efforts continued operating under different mechanisms. For example, the AVHRR Pathfinder Atmosphere
(PATMOS) project continued as a NOAA National Environmental Satellite Data
and Information Service (NESDIS) effort (Stowe et al., 2002).
The OSWG met for the first time in February of 1991. As with the PATMOS
project, the Pathfinder SST activities also continued with the goal of building on
the successes of the previous decade. In the case of Pathfinder SST, the program
continued through the efforts of the NOAA/NESDIS National Oceanographic Data
Center (NODC), beginning in 2002. Details on the history, current status, and future
directions of Pathfinder SSTs constitute the remainder of this chapter.
16.2 History of the Pathfinder SST Program
Reprocessing of AVHRR data to create long, accurate, and consistent SST records
was one component of the overall NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Program. To remain
consistent with terminology, the activities that took place between 1990 and 2001
K.S. Casey et al.
a NASA/EPA/USGS Landsat Pathfinder project was formed, as was the first NASAonly Pathfinder, using Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR)
data. Funding for these activities came mainly from NASA.
Each of the Pathfinder projects would form a Science Working Group (SWG)
that would determine the specific products to be created based on scientific need,
identify community-consensus algorithms to generate those products, and make
recommendations on product validation, storage, maintenance, and required data
services. A NASA Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) would then make the
data available, as would the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
Because the AVHRR data stream was perceived to be of value to several different
areas in the Earth sciences, three product science working groups were formed under
the AVHRR SWG umbrella: an atmosphere SWG, a land SWG and an oceans SWG
(OSWG in the following). The official goals of the AVHRR Pathfinder projects,
as presented on 08 January 1992 by Mary James of NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center to a group that included the project chairpersons, were:
• To produce long term global datasets for research, modeling, and trend analysis.
Datasets were to be consistently processed with the best available community
consensus algorithms.
• To produce multiple geophysical products from a common input stream using
integrated processing concepts.
• To assemble a consistent, low maintenance, readily accessible archive for
AVHRR data with browse and on-line access capabilities.
In December of 1994 a Pathfinder NASA Research Announcement was released,
marking the transition from the first phase to a second phase of the Pathfinder
datasets. The NRA emphasized building long-term datasets and addressing consistency issues that arise when linking together multiple sensors over time. This
second phase ended in 2001, which marked the formal end of NASA support for the
NOAA/NASA Pathfinder efforts. However, because of the successes obtained and
momentum built over the previous decade, some of these efforts continued operating under different mechanisms. For example, the AVHRR Pathfinder Atmosphere
(PATMOS) project continued as a NOAA National Environmental Satellite Data
and Information Service (NESDIS) effort (Stowe et al., 2002).
The OSWG met for the first time in February of 1991. As with the PATMOS
project, the Pathfinder SST activities also continued with the goal of building on
the successes of the previous decade. In the case of Pathfinder SST, the program
continued through the efforts of the NOAA/NESDIS National Oceanographic Data
Center (NODC), beginning in 2002. Details on the history, current status, and future
directions of Pathfinder SSTs constitute the remainder of this chapter.
16.2 History of the Pathfinder SST Program
Reprocessing of AVHRR data to create long, accurate, and consistent SST records
was one component of the overall NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Program. To remain
consistent with terminology, the activities that took place between 1990 and 2001