'''Short description:'''

This product provides daily (nighttime), gap-free (Level-4, L4) maps of foundation Sea Surface Temperature (SST) - that is, the SST free from diurnal warming - over the Mediterranean Sea, at high (HR, 1/16°) and ultra-high (UHR, 1/100°) spatial resolutions, covering the period from 2008 to present. Each map represents nighttime SST values (centered at 00:00 UTC) and is produced by the Italian National Research Council – Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR-ISMAR).

L4 maps are generated by selecting only the highest-quality SST observations from upstream Level-2 (L2) data acquired within a short local nighttime window, in order to minimize cloud contamination and avoid the effects of the diurnal cycle. The main L2 sources currently ingested include SLSTR from Sentinel-3A and -3B, VIIRS from NOAA-21, NOAA-20, and Suomi-NPP, AVHRR from Metop-B and -C, and SEVIRI. A two-step algorithm allows to interpolate SST data at high and ultra-high spatial resolution, applying statistical techniques (Buongiorno Nardelli et al., 2013; Buongiorno Nardelli et al., 2015). Additionally, from 2024 onwards, an improved first-guess field has been used in the generation of the MED UHR L4 data, enhancing the product's spatial resolution of SST features and the accuracy of SST gradients via machine learning techniques (Fanelli et al., 2024).

'''DOI (product) :'''

https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00172