Clim_SST_cycle_1982_2010_pentadal.gif (2.44 MB)
Annual cycle of sea surface temperature (5-day resolution)
This animated GIF shows the global sea surface temperature on a five-day step through the course of a typical year. The figure was generated from the the dataset described in this paper https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-019-0236-x and is derived from trillions of satellite observations.
This is a pentadal climatology based on the years 1982 - 2010 inclusive -- i.e., the annual cycle is averaged over the period 1982 - 2010. This is as close as possible to the standard climatological period of 1981 to 2010 with this dataset, which starts during 1981: the climatology is based only on complete observational years. The animation loops over every fifth day of the climatological year, starting with 5th January. The large scale variation around the year is driven by the difference in heating of the ocean by the Sun between winter and summer, while many smaller features persist all year and are connected with the patterns of ocean currents driven by variations in temperature, salinity and surface winds on a rotating planet.
