The Global Trend in Sea Surface Temperature from 20 Years of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Data

Abstract

The trend in sea surface temperature has been determined from 20 yr of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Pathfinder data (version 5). The data span the period from January 1985 to December 2004, inclusive. The linear trends were calculated to be 0.18° ± 0.04° and 0.17° ± 0.05°C decade−1 from daytime and nighttime data, respectively. However, the measured trends were found to be somewhat smaller if version 4.1 of the Pathfinder data was used, or if the time series of data ended earlier. The influence of El Niño on global temperatures can be seen clearly in the data. However, it was not found to affect the trend measurements significantly. Evidence of cool temperatures after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 was also observed.