GHRSST invites abstract submissions for the the 25th International SST Users’ Symposium which will take place from the 10th to 14th of June, 2024 in Montreal, Canada, co-hosted by Environment and Climate Change Canada and Université du Québec à Montréal.

Aim of the Symposium

The primary objective of the symposium sets out to foster discussion and collaboration among experts in the field and promote the utilization of satellite sea-surface temperature (#SST) data products for oceanographic research and applications.

Target audience

Researchers, scientists, students, and practitioners working with satellite sea-surface temperature, SST users, SST producers

GHRSST25 Symposium Science Sessions 

We invite abstracts for the following 5 Science Sessions:

S1 – Coupled Data Assimilation 

S2 – Climate Change and Variability in Global and Regional SST 

S3 – Challenging Regions: The Coastal Margin and The Arctic

S4 – Calibration, Validation, and Product Assessment

S5 – Advances in Computing and Products

Science Session Descriptions 

Science Session 1 – Coupled Data Assimilation 

Coupled ocean-ice-atmosphere models have been largely used for the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) and ocean forecast for many years already. They have demonstrated a significant improvement in the forecast quality with respect to uncoupled systems.  However, coupled models often get initialised by distinct uncoupled data assimilation systems for the ocean and ice and for the atmosphere, that leads to initialization shocks and thus, suboptimal performance. Hence, the analyses produced within coupled ocean-ice-atmosphere data assimilation systems may be beneficial for an accurate initialization of the coupled forecasts. Most NWP centers are already developing coupled data assimilation systems for NWP or reanalyses. This session is open to presentations related to the actual progress in coupled data assimilation, with emphasis on the coupling between atmosphere, ocean, and ice. Presentations on a wide range of topics, from observation operators for SST and ice, direct assimilation of L1 satellite data, status of the operational systems and applications are welcomed.

The session will focus on the following: 

  • Advances and challenges in coupled data assimilation systems for operational applications or reanalyses
  • Applications of direct data assimilation 
  • Research on observation operators for SST and ice

Keywords: coupled data assimilation, direct assimilation, observation operators

Science Session 2 – Climate Change and Variability in Global and Regional SST

Global and regional climate SST reanalyses and climate data records are essential for monitoring and characterisation of the climate system and its change. Sustained monitoring provides an observational basis for our understanding of climate change and variability, and enables us to place current events into the context of the past. It draws upon information from in situ and satellite observations as well as dynamical reanalyses and climate models. This session aims to highlight the recent advancements in SST climate data records and reanalyses with a particular focus on the observed trends, variabilities and the corresponding uncertainties. This session also welcomes contributions on the use of SST products in climate models for assimilation as well as model evaluations. Comparison and validation of climate simulations using different SST datasets are welcome, in order to provide information to producers to enable them to improve their products for specific applications.

The session will focus on the following: 

  • Advances in observational climate and reanalysis SST products
  • Applications of SST observations and reanalyses in global and regional assessments of climate change and variability
  • Applications of SST observations for assimilation, evaluation and inter-comparisons of climate models and dynamical reanalyses. 
  • Comparison and validation of climate simulations using different SST datasets

Keywords: Climate monitoring, climate data records and reanalyses, climate change and variability, trends, climate-indicators, dynamical reanalyses, climate model simulations.

Science Session 3 – Challenging Regions: The Coastal Margin and The Arctic

This session is dedicated to challenging regions for SST retrieval and analysis, with particular focus on coastal regions and the Arctic, which has been recognized as a user-driven priority for the upcoming year. Coastal regions are challenging due to proximity to land, turbidity, tidal motion / mixing, upwelling or high gradients. In the Arctic, challenges arise due to a persistent cloud cover and the mix of open water and sea ice (and the temporally varying sea ice cover). Recent efforts have been made to get Sea Ice Surface Temperature (IST) homogenised with SST as an uniform variable (X-ECV) in order to define the boundaries between ocean/sea-ice, and there is a growing need to get these connected with the global L4 SST counterparts. Both the coastal and Arctic regions are lacking satellite and in situ observations, which limits the possibilities for algorithm training and/or validation purposes. Improved SST coverage and accuracy in the coastal regions will benefit the forecast performance of operational ocean models. Ocean forecasting will also benefit from improvements in satellite SST cloud clearing algorithms to preserve cool ocean features, such as coastal upwelling. 

The goal of this session is to provide an overview of satellite and in-situ data available for these challenging regions and provide examples on how these data are used for monitoring and/or ocean applications.

The session will focus on the following: 

  • Advances in SST retrievals, in situ observations and products for challenging regions
  • Applications of SST observations in regional assessments of climate change and variability in challenging regions
  • Comparison and validation of SST products in challenging regions
  • Advances  in the representation of the marginal ice zone SST and combined SST/IST estimates 

Keywords: Coastal regions, Arctic, sea ice, remote areas, boundaries, X-ECVs

Science Session 4 – Calibration, Validation, and Product Assessment

This session aims to highlight recent advancements in sea-surface temperature (SST), with a particular focus on the calibration and validation of satellite-derived SST products and the assessment of their quality and applicability, and a focus on in-situ/FRM datasets and inter-comparisons.

The session will focus on the following:

  • Calibration and inter-calibration of satellite instruments.
  • Validation of satellite-derived SST products.
  • Comparisons between satellite data products and in situ measurements.
  • Inter-comparisons of satellite data products from various platforms and sensors.
  • Quality control and quality assurance of satellite data products.
  • Evaluation of uncertainties and error sources in SST products.

Keywords: calibration, intercalibration, validation, product assessment, inter-comparison, quality control, quality assurance, uncertainties, evaluation, error sources

Science Session 5 – Advances in Computing and Products

This session is dedicated to new and evolving approaches of computing techniques for GHRSST data product formulation, validation and scientific investigation. 

Results using methodology and workflows applying Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for SST products and analysis are encouraged.

This session will also emphasise cloud computing and storage,  optimization of formats and processing software for the cloud, and parallel computation approaches.

The session will focus on the following:

  • Challenges and advances in various computing techniques 
  • Artificial Intelligence and machine learning applications
  • Challenges and advances cloud computing and storage technologies

Keywords: Computing, parallel computing, cloud computing, cloud storage, data formats, SST products and validation, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

Abstract Submission

Deadline for the Submissions of Abstracts is 1 March 2024. 

Submit your abstract by clicking the button below.

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Information for GHRSST25

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