A method has been developed to estimate the sea-surface temperature from satellite measured infrared radiation in the atmospheric window region, taking into account a priori knowledge of statistical character of surface temperature, atmospheric temperature and atmospheric moisture.
It has been shown that the information contents about the sea-surface temperature, atmospheric temperature and moisture, involved in the observed radiation in the atmospheric window region, greatly vary with the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. In lower latitude, or in midlatitude in summer, the satellite observed radiation in the atmospheric window region contains very little information about the sea-surface temperature, and it rather contains much more information about the average temperature or water vapor amount in the atmosphere.