The NOAA 1/4 degree daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature
(OISST) provides complete ocean temperature fields constructed by combining
bias-adjusted observations from different platforms (satellite, ships,
buoys) on a regular global grid, with gaps filled in by interpolation.
Satellite data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)
provides the main input which permits the high temporal-spatial coverage
beginning in late 1981 to the present.
The OISST dataset has a single day's data processed twice. First a near
real-time preliminary version is released with a lag of 1 day, and a final
version with a lag of 14 days. The final version uses extra days for
smoothing, and zonal bias correction in addition to replacing the
preliminary version.
Bands
Pixel Size 27830 meters
Bands
Name
Units
Min
Max
Scale
Pixel Size
Description
sst
°C
-180*
3764*
0.01
meters
Daily sea surface temperature
anom
°C
-1887*
1902*
0.01
meters
Temperature anomaly; the daily OISST minus a 30-year climatological mean.
ice
%
1*
100*
0.01
meters
Seven-day median of daily sea ice concentrations.
err
°C
11*
171*
0.01
meters
Estimated error; standard deviation of analyzed sea surface temperature.
* estimated min or max value
Image Properties
Image Properties
Name
Type
Description
status
STRING
'provisional' or 'permanent'
Terms of Use
Terms of Use
The NOAA CDR Program's official distribution point for CDRs is NOAA's
National Climatic Data Center which provides sustained, open access and
active data management of the CDR packages and related information in
keeping with the United States' open data policies and practices as
described in the President's Memorandum on "Open Data Policy" and pursuant
to the Executive Order of May 9, 2013, "Making Open and Machine Readable
the New Default for Government Information". In line with these policies,
the CDR data sets are nonproprietary, publicly available, and no
restrictions are placed upon their use. For more information, see the
Fair Use of NOAA's CDR Data Sets, Algorithms and Documentation
pdf.
Citations
Citations:
Richard W. Reynolds, Viva F. Banzon, and NOAA CDR Program (2008): NOAA
Optimum Interpolation 1/4 Degree Daily Sea Surface Temperature (OISST)
Analysis, Version 2. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for
Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5SQ8XB5
[access date].
The NOAA 1/4 degree daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST) provides complete ocean temperature fields constructed by combining bias-adjusted observations from different platforms (satellite, ships, buoys) on a regular global grid, with gaps filled in by interpolation. Satellite data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) provides the …
[null,null,[],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe NOAA CDR OISST V2.1 dataset provides daily sea surface temperature (SST) data from September 1981 to present, combining observations from satellites, ships, and buoys.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt includes sea surface temperature, temperature anomaly, sea ice concentration, and estimated error bands, at a 1/4 degree resolution.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBoth preliminary (near real-time) and final versions of data are available, with the final version incorporating additional smoothing and bias correction.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe dataset is freely available for research, education, and non-profit use with no restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOISST relies primarily on satellite data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) to achieve comprehensive temporal and spatial coverage.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Dataset Availability\n: 1981-09-01T00:00:00Z--2025-08-27T00:00:00Z\n\nDataset Provider\n:\n\n\n [NOAA](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/optimum-interpolation-sst)\n\nCadence\n: 1 Day\n\nTags\n:\n [avhrr](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/avhrr) [cdr](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/cdr) [daily](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/daily) [ice](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/ice) [noaa](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/noaa) [ocean](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/ocean) [oceans](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/oceans) [oisst](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/oisst) [sst](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/sst) [temperature](/earth-engine/datasets/tags/temperature) \nreal-time \n\nDescription \nThe NOAA 1/4 degree daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature\n(OISST) provides complete ocean temperature fields constructed by combining\nbias-adjusted observations from different platforms (satellite, ships,\nbuoys) on a regular global grid, with gaps filled in by interpolation.\nSatellite data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)\nprovides the main input which permits the high temporal-spatial coverage\nbeginning in late 1981 to the present.\n\nThe OISST dataset has a single day's data processed twice. First a near\nreal-time preliminary version is released with a lag of 1 day, and a final\nversion with a lag of 14 days. The final version uses extra days for\nsmoothing, and zonal bias correction in addition to replacing the\npreliminary version.\n\nBands\n\n\n**Pixel Size**\n\n27830 meters\n\n**Bands**\n\n| Name | Units | Min | Max | Scale | Pixel Size | Description |\n|--------|-------|---------|--------|-------|------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| `sst` | °C | -180\\* | 3764\\* | 0.01 | meters | Daily sea surface temperature |\n| `anom` | °C | -1887\\* | 1902\\* | 0.01 | meters | Temperature anomaly; the daily OISST minus a 30-year climatological mean. |\n| `ice` | % | 1\\* | 100\\* | 0.01 | meters | Seven-day median of daily sea ice concentrations. |\n| `err` | °C | 11\\* | 171\\* | 0.01 | meters | Estimated error; standard deviation of analyzed sea surface temperature. |\n\n\\* estimated min or max value\n\nImage Properties\n\n**Image Properties**\n\n| Name | Type | Description |\n|--------|--------|------------------------------|\n| status | STRING | 'provisional' or 'permanent' |\n\nTerms of Use\n\n**Terms of Use**\n\nThe NOAA CDR Program's official distribution point for CDRs is NOAA's\nNational Climatic Data Center which provides sustained, open access and\nactive data management of the CDR packages and related information in\nkeeping with the United States' open data policies and practices as\ndescribed in the President's Memorandum on \"Open Data Policy\" and pursuant\nto the Executive Order of May 9, 2013, \"Making Open and Machine Readable\nthe New Default for Government Information\". In line with these policies,\nthe CDR data sets are nonproprietary, publicly available, and no\nrestrictions are placed upon their use. For more information, see the\n[Fair Use of NOAA's CDR Data Sets, Algorithms and Documentation](https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/sds/cdr/CDRs/Aerosol_Optical_Thickness/UseAgreement_01B-04.pdf)\npdf.\n\nCitations \nCitations:\n\n- Richard W. Reynolds, Viva F. Banzon, and NOAA CDR Program (2008): NOAA\n Optimum Interpolation 1/4 Degree Daily Sea Surface Temperature (OISST)\n Analysis, Version 2. \\[indicate subset used\\]. NOAA National Centers for\n Environmental Information. [doi:10.7289/V5SQ8XB5](https://doi.org/10.7289/V5SQ8XB5)\n \\[access date\\].\n\nDOIs\n\n- \u003chttps://doi.org/10.7289/V5SQ8XB5\u003e\n\nExplore with Earth Engine **Important:** Earth Engine is a platform for petabyte-scale scientific analysis and visualization of geospatial datasets, both for public benefit and for business and government users. Earth Engine is free to use for research, education, and nonprofit use. To get started, please [register for Earth Engine access.](https://console.cloud.google.com/earth-engine)\n\nCode Editor (JavaScript) \n\n```javascript\nvar dataset = ee.ImageCollection('NOAA/CDR/OISST/V2_1')\n .filter(ee.Filter.date('2017-05-01', '2017-05-14'));\nvar seaSurfaceTemperature = dataset.select('sst');\nvar visParams = {\n min: -180.0,\n max: 3000.0,\n palette: [\n '040274', '040281', '0502a3', '0502b8', '0502ce', '0502e6',\n '0602ff', '235cb1', '307ef3', '269db1', '30c8e2', '32d3ef',\n '3be285', '3ff38f', '86e26f', '3ae237', 'b5e22e', 'd6e21f',\n 'fff705', 'ffd611', 'ffb613', 'ff8b13', 'ff6e08', 'ff500d',\n 'ff0000', 'de0101', 'c21301', 'a71001', '911003'\n ],\n};\nMap.setCenter(20.3, -20.39, 2);\nMap.addLayer(seaSurfaceTemperature, visParams, 'Sea Surface Temperature');\n```\n[Open in Code Editor](https://code.earthengine.google.com/?scriptPath=Examples:Datasets/NOAA/NOAA_CDR_OISST_V2_1) \n[NOAA CDR OISST v02r01: Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature](/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/NOAA_CDR_OISST_V2_1) \nThe NOAA 1/4 degree daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST) provides complete ocean temperature fields constructed by combining bias-adjusted observations from different platforms (satellite, ships, buoys) on a regular global grid, with gaps filled in by interpolation. Satellite data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) provides the ... \nNOAA/CDR/OISST/V2_1, avhrr,cdr,daily,ice,noaa,ocean,oceans,oisst,sst,temperature \n1981-09-01T00:00:00Z/2025-08-27T00:00:00Z \n-90 -180 90 180 \nGoogle Earth Engine \nhttps://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets\n\n- [https://doi.org/10.7289/V5SQ8XB5](https://doi.org/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/optimum-interpolation-sst)\n- [https://doi.org/10.7289/V5SQ8XB5](https://doi.org/https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/NOAA_CDR_OISST_V2_1)"]]
