Neural Network Retrieval of Ocean Surface Parameters from SSM/I Data

Abstract

Abstract A new algorithm based on the multiparameter neural network is proposed to retrieve wind speed (WS), sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface air temperature, and relative humidity (RH) simultaneously over the global oceans from Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) observations. The retrieved geophysical parameters are used to estimate the surface latent heat flux and sensible heat flux using a bulk method over the global oceans. The neural network is trained and validated with the matchups of SSM/I overpasses and National Data Buoy Center buoys under both clear and cloudy weather conditions. In addition, the data acquired by the 85.5-GHz channels of SSM/I are used as the input variables of the neural network to improve its performance. The root-mean-square (rms) errors between the estimated WS, SST, sea surface air temperature, and RH from SSM/I observations and the buoy measurements are 1.48 m s−1, 1.54°C, 1.47°C, and 7.85, respectively. The rms errors between the estimated latent and sensible heat fluxes from SSM/I observations and the Xisha Island (in the South China Sea) measurements are 3.21 and 30.54 W m−2, whereas those between the SSM/I estimates and the buoy data are 4.9 and 37.85 W m−2, respectively. Both of these errors (those for WS, SST, and sea surface air temperature, in particular) are smaller than those by previous retrieval algorithms of SSM/I observations over the global oceans. Unlike previous methods, the present algorithm is capable of producing near-real-time estimates of surface latent and sensible heat fluxes for the global oceans from SSM/I data.