Regional validation of AVHRR-derived surface temperature of the Northern Adriatic Sea

Relatively successful global performance of a particular SST algorithm can be misleading, concealing potentially large regional differences. We have therefore undertaken performance testing of globally derived SST coefficients in a local, geographically limited environment of the northern Adriatic. The in situ temperature data available for validation have come from two sources: Project Jadran, and Project ADRICOSM. The comparisons have been limited to the NOAA-16 and NOAA-17 AVHRR sensors and the MCSST and NLSST algorithms. The obtained results suggest that significant biases can exist in global-coefficient estimates, which local validation can ameliorate. A soon to be available set of buoy and drifter SST measurements, together with a wider choice of algorithms (PFSST in particular), is expected to provide further quantitative evidence and help elucidate the regional character of the Adriatic remotely sensed SST.