A multiyear hourly sea surface skin temperature data set derived from the TOGA TAO bulk temperature and wind speed over the tropical Pacific

A theoretical relationship is derived to estimate the sea surface skin temperature from near-surface wind speed and the diurnal variation of sea surface bulk (or bucket) temperature. Coefficients in the relation are determined using the R/V Franklin data during the Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE). In contrast to previous methods, surface energy flux data are not explicitly required but rather are implied by the temporal variation of bulk temperature. A multiyear hourly skin temperature data set is obtained using data of bulk temperature at 1-m depth and wind speed from the TOGA Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean (TAO) moored buoys spanning the tropical Pacific Ocean from 95°W in the eastern Pacific to 137°E in the western Pacific between 9°N and 8°S. The diurnal amplitude of skin temperature reaches its maximum of about 2.8 K for daily averaged wind speed between 1-2 m s^-1 and skin temperature between 20°-21°C and decreases with greater wind speeds. The most frequent amplitude is about 0.5 K, the average amplitude is 0.65 K, and the accumulated frequency for amplitudes greater than 1 K is 10% within the parameter space of daily averaged wind speed between 1 and 15 m s^-1 and daily averaged skin temperature between 18° and 34°C.