Characteristics of Spectra of Daily Satellite Sea Surface Temperature Composites in the Seas around the Korean Peninsula

Satellite sea surface temperature (SST) composites provide important data for numerical forecasting models and for research on global warming and climate change. In this study, six types of representative SST composite database were collected from 2007 to 2018 and the characteristics of spatial structures of SSTs were analyzed in seas around the Korean Peninsula. The SST composite data were compared with time series of in-situ measurements from ocean meteorological buoys of the Korea Meteorological Administration by analyzing the maximum value of the errors and its occurrence time at each buoy station. High differences between the SST data and in-situ measurements were detected in the western coastal stations, in particular Deokjeokdo and Chilbaldo, with a dominant annual or semi-annual cycle. In Pohang buoy, a high SST difference was observed in the summer of 2013, when cold water appeared in the surface layer due to strong upwelling. As a result of spectrum analysis of the time series SST data, daily satellite SSTs showed similar spectral energy from in-situ measurements at periods longer than one month approximately. On the other hand, the difference of spectral energy between the satellite SSTs and in-situ temperature tended to magnify as the temporal frequency increased. This suggests a possibility that satellite SST composite data may not adequately express the temporal variability of SST in the near-coastal area. The fronts from satellite SST images revealed the differences among the SST databases in terms of spatial structure and magnitude of the oceanic fronts. The spatial scale expressed by the SST composite field was investigated through spatial spectral analysis. As a result, the high-resolution SST composite images expressed the spatial structures of mesoscale ocean phenomena better than other low-resolution SST images. Therefore, in order to express the actual mesoscale ocean phenomenon in more detail, it is necessary to develop more advanced techniques for producing the SST composites.