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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 109, C08017, doi:10.1029/2003JC002104, 2004

The measurement of climate change using data from the Advanced Very High Resolution and Along Track Scanning Radiometers

S. P. Lawrence

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, UK


D. T. Llewellyn-Jones

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, UK


S. J. Smith

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, UK


Abstract

Global sea-surface temperature is an important indicator of climate change, with the ability to reflect warming/cooling climate trends. The detection of such trends requires rigorous measurements that are global, accurate, and consistent. Space instruments can provide the means to achieve these required attributes in sea-surface temperature data. Analyses of two independent data sets from the Advanced Very High Resolution and Along Track Scanning Radiometers series of space sensors during the period 1985 to 2000 reveal trends of increasing global temperature with magnitudes of 0.09°C and 0.13°C per decade, respectively, closely matching that expected due to current levels of greenhouse gas exchange. In addition, an analysis based upon singular value decomposition, allowing the removal of El Niño in order to examine areas of change other than the tropical Pacific region, indicates that the 1997 El Niño event affected sea-surface temperature globally. The methodology demonstrated here can be applied to other data sets, which cover long time series observations of geophysical observations in order to characterize long-term change. The conclusion is that satellite sea-surface temperature provides an important means to quantify and explore the processes of climate change.

Received 22 August 2003; accepted 20 May 2004; published 27 August 2004.

Keywords: climate change; satellite data; sea-surface temperature.

Index Terms: 1635 Global Change: Oceans (4203); 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing; 4294 Oceanography: General: Instruments and techniques.

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Citation: Lawrence, S. P., D. T. Llewellyn-Jones, and S. J. Smith (2004), The measurement of climate change using data from the Advanced Very High Resolution and Along Track Scanning Radiometers, J. Geophys. Res., 109, C08017, doi:10.1029/2003JC002104.