Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

AVHRR Pathfinder version 5.0 global 4km sea surface temperature (SST) climatologies for 1985-2001

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 08:02 AM | Dataset Last Updated: October 15, 2021 at 12:00 AM
The 4 km Pathfinder effort at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) and the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) is an extension of and improvement on the sea surface temperature (SST) fields from the NOAA/NASA AVHRR Oceans 9km Pathfinder dataset. In this 4 km Pathfinder project, some important shortcomings in the original 9 km data have been corrected, and the entire time series has been reprocessed at the 4 km Global Area Coverage (GAC) level, the highest resolution possible globally. Pathfinder AVHRR SST data for daily, 5-day, 7-day, 8-day, monthly, and yearly periods from 1981-2008 are archived at the National Oceanographic Data Center under separate accession numbers. The SST climatologies are available as Hierarchical Data Format (.HDF) data files for 1985-2001 and include daily, 5-day, 7-day, 8-day, monthly, yearly, and seasonal time periods which are filed as separate NODC accessions. Four corresponding graphics (climatologies) in GeoTIFF format are provided for the seasonal climatologies. Although the data are represented using 16-bit in the .HDF files, 8-bit GeoTIFF files were developed to facilitate access and use of these data by the widest variety of users. As a result, the GeoTIFF representations of the .HDF files are not a complete representation of the data in the .HDF files.

Resources

25 resources available

  • THREDDS

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • HTTPS

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • FTP

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • 4 km AVHRR Pathfinder Project

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

    VALU
    Download

  • Granule Search

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/climate-data-records/pathfinder-sea-surface-temperature

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_16

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jc000065

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/ghrsst-long-term-stewardship-and-reanalysis-facility/

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0207879

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/SeaSurfaceTemperature

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0110657

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/satellite/publications/podguides/TIROS-N%20thru%20N-14/

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014%3C3801:garsst%3E2.0.co;2

    VALU
    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012%3C1848:acosai%3E2.0.co;2

    VALU
    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2002)015%3C1609:aiisas%3E2.0.co;2

    VALU
    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(2000)081%3C1525:aiaopa%3E2.3.co;2

    VALU
    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.1029/95jc00365

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://doi.org/10.1029/2002jd002670

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://doi.org/10.1029/jc095ic08p13341

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2544220

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • GCMD Keyword Forum Page

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • NCEI Contact Information

    HTML
    Visit Page

  • European Space Agency (ESA) website

    HTML
    Visit Page

Find Related Datasets

Search by Tags

Click any tag below to search for similar datasets

0001658 0006682 0009534 0009535 0009536 0009537 0009538 SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.info@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description The 4 km Pathfinder effort at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) and the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) is an extension of and improvement on the sea surface temperature (SST) fields from the NOAA/NASA AVHRR Oceans 9km Pathfinder dataset. In this 4 km Pathfinder project, some important shortcomings in the original 9 km data have been corrected, and the entire time series has been reprocessed at the 4 km Global Area Coverage (GAC) level, the highest resolution possible globally. Pathfinder AVHRR SST data for daily, 5-day, 7-day, 8-day, monthly, and yearly periods from 1981-2008 are archived at the National Oceanographic Data Center under separate accession numbers. The SST climatologies are available as Hierarchical Data Format (.HDF) data files for 1985-2001 and include daily, 5-day, 7-day, 8-day, monthly, yearly, and seasonal time periods which are filed as separate NODC accessions. Four corresponding graphics (climatologies) in GeoTIFF format are provided for the seasonal climatologies. Although the data are represented using 16-bit in the .HDF files, 8-bit GeoTIFF files were developed to facilitate access and use of these data by the widest variety of users. As a result, the GeoTIFF representations of the .HDF files are not a complete representation of the data in the .HDF files.
distribution 
[
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "THREDDS",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/thredds-ocean/catalog/pathfinder/Version5.0_Climatologies/1985_2001/catalog.html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "These data are available through a variety of services via a THREDDS (Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services) Data Server (TDS). Depending on the dataset, the TDS can provide WMS, WCS, DAP, HTTP, and other data access and metadata services as well. For more information on the TDS, see http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/thredds/current/tds/.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "HTTPS",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/pathfinder/Version5.0_Climatologies/1985_2001/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for data access and direct download.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "FTP",
    "accessURL": "ftp://ftp-oceans.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data.nodc/pathfinder/Version5.0_Climatologies/1985_2001/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "These data are available through the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is no longer supported by most internet browsers. You may copy and paste the FTP link to the data into an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla or WinSCP).",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "4 km AVHRR Pathfinder Project",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/avhrr-pathfinder-sst",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page with download links.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/AVHRR_Pathfinder-NODC-v5.0-climatologies",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Granule Search",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/granule/geoportal/?from=0&size=10&esdsl=%7B%22query%22%3A%7B%22bool%22%3A%7B%22must%22%3A%5B%7B%22query_string%22%3A%7B%22analyze_wildcard%22%3Atrue%2C%22query%22%3A%22fileid%3AAVHRR_Pathfinder-NODC-v5.0-climatologies.*%22%7D%7D%5D%7D%7D%7D#searchPanel",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Search for data granules belonging to this collection (a granule is the smallest aggregation of data that can be independently described and retrieved).",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/climate-data-records/pathfinder-sea-surface-temperature",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/climate-data-records/pathfinder-sea-surface-temperature",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "CDR documentation",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_16",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_16",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "chapter in book",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jc000065",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jc000065",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Online Document",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/ghrsst-long-term-stewardship-and-reanalysis-facility/",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/ghrsst-long-term-stewardship-and-reanalysis-facility/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "archive website",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0207879",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0207879",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Documentation",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/SeaSurfaceTemperature",
    "accessURL": "https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/SeaSurfaceTemperature",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "PO.DAAC website",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0110657",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0110657",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Related dataset",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/satellite/publications/podguides/TIROS-N%20thru%20N-14/",
    "accessURL": "https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/satellite/publications/podguides/TIROS-N%20thru%20N-14/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "TIROS-N thru N-14",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014%3C3801:garsst%3E2.0.co;2",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "journal article",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014%3C3801:garsst%3E2.0.co;2",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012%3C1848:acosai%3E2.0.co;2",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "journal article",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012%3C1848:acosai%3E2.0.co;2",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2002)015%3C1609:aiisas%3E2.0.co;2",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "journal article",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2002)015%3C1609:aiisas%3E2.0.co;2",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(2000)081%3C1525:aiaopa%3E2.3.co;2",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "journal article",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(2000)081%3C1525:aiaopa%3E2.3.co;2",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1029/95jc00365",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.1029/95jc00365",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "journal article",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1029/2002jd002670",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.1029/2002jd002670",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "journal article",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1029/jc095ic08p13341",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.1029/jc095ic08p13341",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "journal article",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2544220",
    "accessURL": "https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2544220",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "journal article",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GCMD Keyword Forum Page",
    "accessURL": "https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Contact Information",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Information for contacts at NCEI.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "European Space Agency (ESA) website",
    "accessURL": "https://www.esa.int/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Institution web page",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  }
]
identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions/iso/xml/AVHRR_Pathfinder-NODC-v5.0-climatologies.xml
issued 2004-08-10T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "0001658",
  "0006682",
  "0009534",
  "0009535",
  "0009536",
  "0009537",
  "0009538",
  "SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE",
  "AVHRR-2",
  "AVHRR-3",
  "derived products",
  "satellite data",
  "NOAA-11",
  "NOAA-14",
  "NOAA-16",
  "NOAA-9",
  "University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science",
  "NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service",
  "University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science",
  "Pathfinder",
  "World-Wide Distribution",
  "climatology",
  "satelliteObservation",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS > National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NODC > National Oceanographic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "U-MIAMI/RSMAS > Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami",
  "NOAA/NASA PATHFINDER > NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Program",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Remote Sensing > Satellite (digital scans) > AVHRR",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Sea Surface Temperature > AVHRR",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Water Temperature",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Sea Surface Temperature > AVHRR",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Sea Surface Temperature > AVHRR > 4km Pathfinder",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Sea Surface Temperature > AVHRR > 9km Pathfinder",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Sea Surface Temperature > AVHRR > MCSST",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Sea Surface Temperature > AVHRR > NLSST",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > COASTAL",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > REEF > CORAL REEF",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > CLIMATE INDICATORS > ATMOSPHERIC/OCEAN INDICATORS > SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE INDICES",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > COASTAL PROCESSES > CORAL REEFS",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > WATER QUALITY/WATER CHEMISTRY > WATER CHARACTERISTICS > WATER TEMPERATURE",
  "AVHRR-2 > Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer-2",
  "AVHRR-3 > Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer-3",
  "NOAA-11 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-11",
  "NOAA-14 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-14",
  "NOAA-16 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-16",
  "NOAA-9 > National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration-9",
  "NOAA-11 (ICES code: 3101, 1988-2004)",
  "NOAA-14 (ICES code: 3277, 1994-2007)",
  "NOAA-16 (ICES code: 33J9, 2000-2014)",
  "NOAA-9 (ICES code: 33OO, 1984-1998)",
  "GEOGRAPHIC REGION > GLOBAL OCEAN"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2021-10-15T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/climate-data-records/pathfinder-sea-surface-temperature",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/avhrr-pathfinder-sst",
  "https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_16",
  "https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jc000065",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/ghrsst-long-term-stewardship-and-reanalysis-facility/",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0207879",
  "https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/SeaSurfaceTemperature",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0110657",
  "https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/satellite/publications/podguides/TIROS-N%20thru%20N-14/",
  "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014%3C3801:garsst%3E2.0.co;2",
  "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012%3C1848:acosai%3E2.0.co;2",
  "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2002)015%3C1609:aiisas%3E2.0.co;2",
  "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(2000)081%3C1525:aiaopa%3E2.3.co;2",
  "https://doi.org/10.1029/95jc00365",
  "https://doi.org/10.1029/2002jd002670",
  "https://doi.org/10.1029/jc095ic08p13341",
  "https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2544220"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 180.0,-90.0,-180.0,90.0
temporal 1985-01-01T00:00:00+00:00/2001-12-31T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title AVHRR Pathfinder version 5.0 global 4km sea surface temperature (SST) climatologies for 1985-2001

data.gov

An official website of the GSA's Technology Transformation Services

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov