East Coast Satellite Data

• Coverage:
  
• Files contain data for the entire U.S. east coast. Smaller regions are also available.
• Daily data typically have a one-day lag due to data transmission and processing time.
   

AVHRR
Surface water temperature from NOAA's Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). Overpasses from all operating AVHRR instruments are averaged into daily, 3-day, 7-day, monthly, seasonal and annual composites (composite includes day and night overpasses). Spatial resolution is nominally 1 km. More information
HTTP, FTP


AVHRR-VIIRS Multisensor
Surface water temperature combined from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). Overpasses from all operating AVHRR and VIIRS instruments are averaged into daily, 3-day, 7-day, monthly, and seasonal composites (nighttime only). Spatial resolution is nominally 750 km. More information
HTTP, FTP



Geo-Polar Blended
Surface water temperature blended from all available U.S. and international geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites. Greater satellite orbit coverage and the blending technique assure these data are cloud-free. Only nighttime satellite overpasses are used. Spatial resolution is 5 km. More information
HTTP, FTP



PODAAC Multiscale Ultrahigh Resolution (MUR)
Surface water temperature analysis from all available infrared and microwave satellites. Coverage from all satellites and the analysis method assure cloud-free coverage on a daily basis. Product is "foundational" SST, i.e. surface temperature before the diurnal heating begins. Spatial resolution is 1 km. More information

HTTP, FTP

MODIS
Chlorophyll-a from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the NASA Aqua satellite, processed using the NOAA OC3 algorithm with the combined NIR-SWIR atmospheric correction (NOAA OC3 NIR-SWIR). More information

FTP


VIIRS
Chlorophyll-a from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the Suomi-NPP satellite, processed with the NOAA OC3 algorithm (Wang et al., 2017) and the NIR atmospheric correction of Jiang & Wang (2014). More information

HTTP, FTP

The remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) in the red wavelengths can be used as a surrogate for sediment concentration in the surface water. As the sediment load in the surface water increases, the reflectance in the red wavelengths will increase. Since the Rrs values are reflectance measurements and not sediment concentration measurements, only relative amounts of sediment in the water may be inferred. Higher Rrs values indicate relatively more suspended sediment compared to lower Rrs values. Patterns of suspended sediment distribution, both spatial and temporal, and sediment gradients may be detected and monitored.

MODIS (Rrs at 667 nm)
FTP, More information


VIIRS (Rrs at 672 nm)
HTTP, FTP, More information

Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient at 490 nm (Kd-490) measures how strongly light intensity at the specified wavelength (490 nm) is attenuated within the water column. It is a measure of the water's turbidity.


MODIS
NASA algorithm: The "KD2" standard algorithm from NASA's Ocean Biology Processing Group is used. Products are processed operationally by NOAA CoastWatch: Data Processing Caveats.
FTP


NOAA algorithm: The algorithm of Wang, M., et al., 2009, is used, improving values in nearshore waters. More information is available.
FTP



VIIRS
The Wang et al. (2009) algorithm, developed for MODIS, is used. Atmospheric correction is with the near infra-red approach of Jiang & Wang (2014), also known as the BMW atmospheric correction. The Wang (2009) algorithm is intended to improve values across ocean conditions from turbid to clear. More information
HTTP, FTP

True Color satellite image data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) at 750 m spatial resolution. Data files contain red, green and blue radiance data; images are also available. More information
HTTP, FTP

East Coast Node filenaming convention
Sample shell script to download data from http directory tree
Latitude-Longitude file for each region

Data citation: Please acknowledge "NOAA CoastWatch/OceanWatch" when you use data from our site and cite the particular dataset DOI as appropriate.