NEW! updated to include rainfall estimates 10/20/05



The attached KMZ file provides experimental access to globally dynamic ocean winds, sea surface temperature, and sea surface temperature anomaly data. Legend information is provided in the hyperlink balloon for each layer.

Please refer back to this thread for future updates.

Three overlays are updated daily. Descriptions of the current overlays include:


The SeaWinds instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite is a specialized radar that measures near-surface wind speed and direction at a 25km resolution. This instrument was launched on 19 June 1999 and has been measuring winds over approximately 900f the ice-free ocean on a daily basis since 19 July 1999.

The SST derived from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments aboard the NASA Terra and Aqua satellites represent a new milestone in high sensitivity thermal infrared remote sensing. Daily data are currently available globally.

The NCEP Reynolds Optimally Interpolated (OI) Sea Surface Temperature product consists of weekly global sea surface temperature fields on a 1 degree by 1 degree grid. The analysis uses both in-situ SSTs and satellite derived SSTs from the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The satellite derived SSTs are from the Multichannel Sea Surface Temperature products that have been constructed operationally from the five-channel AVHRR by NOAA's Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) since late 1981.

-Jeff