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NOAA provides sea surface temperature (SST) products from multiple Earth observing satellites in low Earth orbits (LEO) using its Advanced Clear-Sky Processor for Ocean (ACSPO) system. Historically, ACSPO SST products from individual LEO platforms have been provided as 10-minute granules (144/day) in L2P (swath) and 0.02° L3U (gridded uncollated) formats. With the large, and increasing number of LEO sensors currently in orbit (two VIIRSs onboard NPP/N20, three AVHRRs onboard METOP-A/B/C and two MODISs onboard Aqua/Terra) and soon to be launched (N21/VIIRS and Metop-Second Generation METImage), the data volumes and number of files has grown dramatically and is now challenging to manage by an average user. Moreover, data from different sensors and overpasses may not be fully consistent. In response to multiple users’ requests, the NOAA SST team has developed the 0.02° gridded super-collated (L3S) line of LEO SST products, which collate L3U data from individual sensors into a multi-sensor products with higher information density, lower data volume consistent datasets. The L3S-LEO line comprises two products: from the afternoon (‘PM’) orbits (currently, two VIIRSs onboard NPP and N20) and from the mid-morning (‘AM’) orbits (currently, three AVHRR FRACs onboard Metop-A/B/C). Both products are reported twice daily, one nighttime and one daytime file, resulting in four files every 24 hours. The data are validated in the NOAA SST Quality Monitor (SQUAM) online system, and distributed to users via the CoastWatch service, in near real time. This work describes recent L3S-LEO algorithm developments, aimed at the reduced impact of cloud leakages from individual sensor L3U data, and improved SST imagery. We also present initial checks of the diurnal cycle in the L3S-LEO vs. GEO SST from the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) flown onboard GOES-16, and find the two datasets largely consistent.
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