Optimum interpolation analysis for Fengyun-3C sea surface temperature data using oriented elliptic correlation scales

Abstract

ABSTRACT Optimum interpolation (OI) analysis is performed on the sea surface temperature (SST) products retrieved from the Fengyun-3C (FY-3C) visible and infrared radiometer (VIRR). The oriented elliptic correlation scale is employed on the SST data and then compared with those from the traditional rectangular correlation scale in the OI analysis. The results were also evaluated against the daily SST data from the in-situ buoys and the Reynolds Optimum Interpolation 1/4 Degree Daily SST (OISST) during 2015. The statistical metrics indicate that the SSTs determined using the oriented elliptic correlation scales have higher accuracy than those from rectangular correlation scales, as the root-mean-square error (RMSE) from 0.42°C to 0.38°C, which are higher than those obtained with the comparison with OISST (RMSE of 0.28°C). This assessment demonstrates that the original SST data from FY-3C VIRR are of poor quality due to the presence of unresolved errors, whereas the oriented elliptic correlation scales for SST demonstrate better performance than the rectangular correlation scales in the OI analysis.