• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.617-629
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• 2020

Sea surface temperature (SST), which plays an important role in climate change and global environmental change, can be divided into skin sea surface temperature (SSST) observed by satellite infrared sensors and the bulk temperature of sea water (BSST) measured by instruments. As sea surface temperature products distributed by many overseas institutions represent temperatures at different depths, it is essential to understand the relationship between the SSST and the BSST. In this study, we constructed an observation system of infrared radiometer onboard a marine research vessel for the first time in Korea to measure the SSST. The calibration coefficients were prepared by performing the calibration procedure of the radiometer device in the laboratory prior to the shipborne observation. A series of processes were applied to calculate the temperature of the layer of radiance emitted from the sea surface as well as that from the sky. The differences in skin-bulk temperatures were investigated quantitatively and the characteristics of the vertical structure of temperatures in the upper ocean were understood through comparison with Himawari-8 geostationary satellite SSTs. Comparison of the skin-bulk temperature differences illustrated overall differences of about 0.76℃ at Jangmok port in the southern coast and the offshore region of the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula from 21 April to May 6, 2020. In addition, the root-mean-square error of the skin-bulk temperature differences showed daily variation from 0.6℃ to 0.9℃, with the largest difference of 0.83-0.89℃ at 1-3 KST during the daytime and the smallest difference of 0.59℃ at 15 KST. The bias also revealed clear diurnal variation at a range of 0.47-0.75℃. The difference between the observed skin sea surface temperature and the satellite sea surface temperature showed a mean square error of approximately 0.74℃ and a bias of 0.37℃. The analysis of this study confirmed the difference in the skin-bulk temperatures according to the observation depth. This suggests that further ocean shipborne infrared radiometer observations should be carried out continuously in the offshore regions to understand diurnal variation as well as seasonal variations of the skin-bulk SSTs and their relations to potential causes.