Description of the AVHRR Pathfinder Matchups Available Matchup Files Matchup databases are produced separately for each year, month and satellite. For instance, in 1988 there were two polar orbiters carrying five-channel AVHRRs: NOAA-9 and NOAA-11 (which became operational in November 1988). The matchup files are named according to the following convention: g_SSSS_vNN.N_YYMM.matchups.jpl, where g indicates "global" matchups, SSSS indicates the satellite carrying the AVHRR for which data are extracted, e.g., "noa9" for NOAA-9 or "no11" for NOAA-11. VNN indicates the version number of the files distributed (the current release is Version 19.0, or "v19.0". YY indicates the last two digits of the year, e.g., "92" for 1992, and MM indicates the month. The matchup files available at present, their size, and the number of records they contain are listed in Appendix A. The matchup files can be obtained from the AVHRR Oceans Pathfinder group at NASA JPL. Detailed instructions on how to get the matchup files are provided below. Number of Matchups by Source of In Situ SST Table 4 shows the number of matchups from each source of in situ SSTs for each satellite and year. Some sources have fairly constant numbers (e.g., the NDBC buoys or the Japanese buoys). In contrast, it is apparent that the number of AOML and TOGA/TAO records increased considerably in recent years as part of TOGA-related efforts. This resulted from an increased number of drifting buoys deployed, the expansion of the TOGA/TAO array, and the switch to modern electronics in the TOGA/TAO which allowed the storage of hourly SST measurements, rather than values averaged over several hours. Table 4a. Number of NOAA-7 matchups by source of in situ and year. The first line for each year represents the total number of records from each source. The second line represents the number of records which passed the cloud tests (initial and tree tests) for each source. NOTE: This table will be filled as soon as NOAA-7 matchups become available. For the time being, it should be considered as a placeholder. Matchups by In Situ Source – NOAA-7 Year NDBC Japan TOGA UK AOML MEDS NATO TOTAL 1981 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1982 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1983 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1984 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Table 4b. Same as Table 4a, but for NOAA-9. Matchups by In Situ Source – NOAA-9 Year NDBC Japan TOGA UK AOML MEDS NATO TOTAL 1985 24492 3612 736 133 50 8 0 0 0 0 12201 1243 0 0 37479 4996 1986 25721 3578 934 170 485 107 0 0 0 0 28394 3213 0 0 55534 7068 1987 27852 3306 845 128 3179 417 0 0 0 0 25845 2889 0 0 57721 6740 1988 24042 3131 402 35 2807 586 0 0 9108 1056 11906 1275 0 0 48265 6083 Table 4c. Same as Table 4a, but for NOAA-11. Matchups by In Situ Source – NOAA-11 Year NDBC Japan TOGA UK AOML MEDS NATO TOTAL 1988 3779 651 50 3 553 117 0 0 2461 215 917 105 0 0 7760 1091 1989 30421 4330 438 70 3313 597 0 0 7423 830 13869 1582 0 0 55464 7409 1990 29853 4388 681 104 1604 145 0 0 20190 2201 20747 2256 0 0 73075 9094 1991 25985 4388 729 96 5873 983 238 13 20934 2263 36756 4053 0 0 90515 11358 1992 30657 4070 671 99 14452 2214 0 0 64264 7247 46003 5201 341 30 156388 18861 1993 31073 4310 399 55 11235 1963 0 0 86183 10343 43092 5150 0 0 171982 21821 1994 22897 2970 308 69 19142 3780 1004 65 54401 6829 39624 4852 168 8 137544 18573 Table 4d. Same as Table 4a, but for NOAA-9 gap data. Matchups by In Situ Source – NOAA-9 Gap Year NDBC Japan TOGA UK AOML MEDS NATO TOTAL 1994 10126 1472 232 31 8619 1469 1003 51 7544 902 7606 659 0 0 35130 4584 1995 3107 423 52 4 3014 505 105 3 2256 252 2172 160 0 0 10706 1347 Table 4e. Same as Table 4a, but for NOAA-14. Matchups by In Situ Source – NOAA-14 Year NDBC Japan TOGA UK AOML MEDS NATO TOTAL 1995 35977 4974 353 56 11907 2492 1058 75 102966 12790 60138 7156 0 0 212399 27543 1996 37974 6016 500 81 22307 4364 1481 135 140148 18336 58552 8528 0 0 260962 37460 1997 31922 5097 718 131 17466 2621 0 0 109416 13858 52589 6965 0 0 212111 28672 1998 35886 6334 730 108 16631 2554 0 0 130583 14390 59528 10017 0 0 243358 33403 1999 37134 6666 601 89 15290 2748 0 0 200618 26470 57341 7318 0 0 310984 43291 Number of Matchups by Latitudinal Zone The development and validation of SST algorithms that perform uniformly throughout the world's oceans requires that the Pathfinder matchups have a wide geographic distribution. Table 5 shows the number of matchups for each database by latitudinal zone representing tropical (0–25°), temperate (25–50°) and subpolar (> 50°) regimes, for both Southern and Northern hemispheres. In the future, efforts should be made to enhance the number of matchups in high latitudes and throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Table 5a. Number of NOAA-7 matchups by latitudinal zone and year. The first line for each year represents the total number of records in each latitudinal band. The second line represents the number of records which passed the cloud tests (initial and tree tests) for each latitude band. NOTE: This table will be filled as soon as NOAA-7 matchups become available. For the time being, it should be considered as a placeholder. Matchups by Latitude Band – NOAA-7 Year < 50°S 50–25°S 25°–0°S 0–25°N 25–50°N > 50°N 1981 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1982 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1983 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1984 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Table 5b. Same as Table 5a, but for NOAA-9. Matchups by Latitude Band – NOAA-9 Year < 50°S 50–25°S 25°–0°S 0–25°N 25–50°N > 50°N 1985 915 100 4923 441 3854 421 3411 486 21963 3331 2413 217 1986 908 60 9895 984 9867 1313 9446 1276 21721 3113 3697 322 1987 787 41 10353 1032 9603 1220 9329 1330 24342 2886 3307 231 1988 497 31 6224 683 6868 957 9825 1259 22047 2936 2804 217 Table 5c. Same as Table 5a, but for NOAA-11. Matchups by Latitude Band – NOAA-11 Year < 50°S 50–25°S 25°–0°S 0–25°N 25–50°N > 50°N 1988 43 3 801 87 1236 197 2334 202 3214 597 132 5 1989 248 26 6898 685 7436 1129 8085 972 30194 4410 2603 187 1990 472 20 7895 814 9318 1179 15369 1667 36554 5219 3197 195 1991 1756 146 16707 1558 13560 1998 18357 2101 35251 5143 497 31 1992 2464 139 25148 2297 25509 3557 31281 4025 63071 8265 9365 578 1993 993 78 23450 2085 27956 4107 30647 4091 79172 10684 10124 776 1994 1383 85 17764 1553 24446 4604 23835 3474 56963 7888 13153 969 Table 5d. Same as Table 5a, but for NOAA-9 gap data. Matchups by Latitude Band – NOAA-9 Gap Year < 50°S 50–25°S 25°–0°S 0–25°N 25–50°N > 50°N 1994 518 45 3215 370 6614 1236 6605 909 13940 1826 4238 198 1995 302 16 1462 146 2111 419 2448 368 3521 360 862 38 Table 5e. Same as Table 5a, but for NOAA-14. Matchups by Latitude Band – NOAA-14 Year < 50°S 50–25°S 25°–0°S 0–25°N 25–50°N > 50°N 1995 3729 238 36111 3116 28470 5080 37259 5925 88114 12019 18716 1165 1996 4235 341 48559 5132 38083 6755 49270 8000 96577 15029 24238 2203 1997 2504 192 44859 4675 27302 4008 32217 5220 80587 12549 24642 2028 1998 3412 250 52753 5247 28402 4048 41644 6198 92598 15914 24549 1746 1999 2152 201 53138 5967 60416 9988 76076 10008 94870 15066 24332 2061 Geographic Distribution of Pathfinder Matchups The geographic distribution of Pathfinder matchups by year and satellite can be viewed by clicking in the apporpriate year and AVHRR cell of Table 6. Only those matchups flagged as "cloud free" are plotted. In the figures, the dots indicate the NDBC moored buoys, the diamonds are the Japanese moored buoys, triangles are the UK buoys and the squares are the TOGA/TAO buoys. Small pink points indicate AOML drifters, whereas small crosses denote MEDS drifters. NATO drifters are indicated as small yellow dots. Note, however, that not all of the data sources are available for all years (see Table 4). Table 6. List of available maps of matchups by satellite and year. Click on the appropriate cell to view the desired map. Geographic Distribution of Matchups by Satellite and Year NOAA-7 NOAA-9 NOAA-11 NOAA-9 Gap NOAA-14 1981 1985 1988 1994 & 1995 1995 1982 1986 1989 1996 1983 1987 1990 1997 1984 1988 1991 1998 1992 1999 1993 1994 How to Get a Copy of the Matchup Files The matchup files can be obtained from the AVHRR Oceans Pathfinder group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more information go to URL http://podaac-www.jpl.nasa.gov/sst, or contact Dr. Jorge Vazquez (e-mail: jv@pacific.jpl.nasa.gov) . Acknowledgments This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grants NAGW-3775, NAS5-31361 and NAS5-31362) and by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (grant NA37RJ0200). Dr. Satheesh Shenoi was on leave from the National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, India. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the various archive centers (listed in Table 1) that provided the in situ observations. We are grateful to A. Kroger, V. Halliwell, J. Splain and S. Walsh, for their contribution to this effort. Ms. Jennifer Gebelein helped create earlier World Wide Web versions of this document. Matchups Home Previous Section Next Section | MAIN HOME PAGE | Page last Updated: Saturday, June 30, 2001 at 4:09 PM Contact: Guillermo Podestá (gpodesta@rsmas.miami.edu), Telephone:+1.305.361.4142