The European Space Agency (ESA) Climate Change Initiative Sea Surface Temperature (ESA SST_cci) Climate Data Record (CDR) accurately maps the surface temperature of the global oceans over the period 1980 to 2021 using observations from many satellites, with a high degree of independence from in situ measurements. The data provide independently quantified SSTs to a quality suitable for climate research.

Data from 2022 onwards are provided as an Interim Climate Data Record (ICDR) and will be updated daily at one month behind present. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) funded the development of the ICDR extension and production of the ICDR during 2022. From 2023 onwards the production of the ICDR is funded by the UK Earth Observation Climate Information Service (EOCIS) and UK Marine and Climate Advisory Service (UKMCAS).

This CDR Version 3.0 product supersedes the CDR v2.1 product. Compared to the previous version the major changes are:

* Longer time series: 1980 to 2021 (previous CDR was Sept 1981 to 2016)

* Improved retrieval to reduce systematic biases using bias-aware optimal methods (for single view sensors)

* Improved retrieval with respect to desert-dust aerosols

* Addition of dual-view SLSTR data from 2016 onwards

* Addition of early AVHRR/1 data in 1980s, and improved AVHRR processing to reduce data gaps in 1980s

* Use of full-resolution MetOp AVHRR data (previously used ‘global area coverage’ Level 1 data)

* Inclusion of L2P passive microwave AMSR data

Data are made freely and openly available under a Creative Commons License by Attribution (CC By 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

When citing this dataset please also cite the associated data paper:

Embury, O., Merchant, C.J., Good, S.A., Rayner, N.A., Høyer, J.L., Atkinson, C., Block, T., Alerskans, E., Pearson, K.J., Worsfold, M., McCarroll, N., Donlon, C. Satellite-based time-series of sea-surface temperature since 1980 for climate applications. Scientific Data 11, 326 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03147-w