SST is an ocean variable that is readily measured by satellites and in situ sensors, and it is needed as a key input to forecasting systems to constrain the modeled upperocean circulation and thermal structure, and for the exchange of energy • AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY

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[1] Ten years of global infrared satellite data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's advanced very high resolution radiometer are analyzed to investigate global variations of diurnal warming. Daily nighttime sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are subtracted from adjacent daytime SSTs to give an estimate of diurnal warming (ÁT day-night ). The results reveal large regions in the tropics and midlatitudes that are frequently susceptible to diurnal warming each year. A strong seasonal pattern exists, dictated by the wind and solar insolation variability. A simple ÁT regression model confirms that the observed warming is consistent with the right meteorological conditions of low winds and high insolation. The analysis also reveals how the spatial distribution and magnitude of ÁT varies with the drift of the satellite orbit as it shifts from a local overpass time of 1400 to 1600. The results highlight the importance of the diurnal cycle for SST measurements and suggest the need for the diurnal cycle to be included in numerical models.INDEX TERMS: 4227 Oceanography: General: Diurnal, seasonal, and annual cycles; 4275 Oceanography: General: Remote sensing and electromagnetic processes (0689); 4572 Oceanography: Physical: Upper ocean processes; 4504 Oceanography: Physical: Air/sea interactions (0312); KEYWORDS: diurnal warming, sea surface temperature, satellite remote sensing, AVHRR, air-sea interaction Citation: Stuart-Menteth, A. C., I. S. Robinson, and P. G. Challenor, A global study of diurnal warming using satellite-derived sea surface temperature,

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