GMI Microwave Sea Surface Temperature Validation and Environmental Factors in the Seas around Korean Peninsula

Sea surface temperature (SST) is a key variable that can be used to understand ocean-atmosphere phenomena and predict climate change. Satellite microwave remote sensing enables the measurement of SST despite the presence of clouds and precipitation in the sensor path. Therefore, considering the high utilization of microwave SST, it is necessary to continuously verify its accuracy and analyze its error characteristics. In this study, the validation of the microwave global precision measurement (GPM)/GPM microwave imager (GMI) SST around the Northwest Pacific and Korean Peninsula was conducted using surface drifter temperature data for approximately eight years from March 2014 to December 2021. The GMI SST showed a bias of 0.09K and an average root mean square error of 0.97K compared to the actual SST, which was slightly higher than that observed in previous studies. In addition, the error characteristics of the GMI SST were related to environmental factors, such as latitude, distance from the coast, sea wind, and water vapor volume. Errors tended to increase in areas close to coastal areas within 300 km of land and in high-latitude areas. In addition, relatively high errors were found in the range of weak wind speeds (<6 m s ) during the day and strong wind speeds (>10 m s ) at night. Atmospheric water vapor contributed to high SST differences in very low ranges of <30 mm and in very high ranges of >60 mm. These errors are consistent with those observed in previous studies, in which GMI data were less accurate at low SST and were estimated to be due to differences in land and ocean radiation, wind -induced changes in sea surface roughness, and absorption of water vapor into the microwave atmosphere. These results suggest that the characteristics of the GMI SST differences should be clarified for more extensive use of microwave satellite SST calculations in the seas around the Korean Peninsula, including a part of the Northwest Pacific.