Validation and Analysis of MW_IR OI SST product over the Indian Ocean

One of the novel SST product that is available to the scientific community is the 9 km microwave plus infrared (MW_IR) OI SST product that combines the through-cloud capabilities of the microwave data (MW) with the high spatial resolution of the IR SST data. All OI SST values are corrected using a diurnal model to create a foundation SST that represents a 12 noon temperature. The constant cloud cover, strong stratification and variable wind fields experienced in the Indian Ocean makes such a SST product attractive for a range of scientific issues including improving short and long term forecast of the Indian Monsoons, and biogeochemical studies. In this study, we have compiled and quality controlled a huge dataset of in situ and satellite collocated SST fields and ancillary data from the Indian Ocean. In this poster, we show the results of our validation of satellite with in situ SST fields, relate the errors to the foundation SST and with other parameters like the wind speed, air temperature and radiation fields. We demonstrate how this SST product can immensely benefit the various scientific studies in the Indian Ocean region.