ACSPO SSTs over the Gulf of Mexico
Mostly clear skies over the Gulf of Mexico early on 7 December 2022 allowed for data from the VIIRS instrument on Suomi-NPP to be used to create a near-complete image of the ACSPO (Advanced Clear-Sky Processor for Ocean) sea-surface temperatures over the Gulf of Mexico (Click here to see the above image with Buoy observations included; note that the AWIPS Label for SSTs lists the wrong JPSS instrument data source; this is NPP, not NOAA-20 data). The enhancement shows that temperatures (in orange red) at or above 80o F are still widespread over the central Gulf of Mexico (extending into the Florida Current to the east of Florida as well); shelf-water temperatures along the American Gulf Coast, however, have cooled into the 60s.
AWIPS-ready VIIRS SST tiles are available via LDM from CIMSS. You can also view individual images of the data at the CIMSS Direct Broadcast site (here), via RealEarth, and at CIMSS’ VIIRS Imagery Viewer.