The raw satellite data is processed to sea surface temperature using the Multi-channel Sea Surface Temperature (MCSST) algorithm using. The AVHRR sensor has a spectral resolution of 5 channels in the visible and infrared spectrum. The spatial resolution of the data is 1km.
The US coastline (drawn in black) is taken from the NOAA Coastline Extractor database (World Vector Shoreline 1:250,000). Bathymetry (also drawn in black) units are in feet.
All time stamps are in Grenwich Mean Time (GMT) which is 4 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time from April to October and 5 hours a head the rest of the year (daylight savings time is not observed in England).
In many of the images you will notice large light violet areas. These are either cloudy areas that were not cold enough to be eliminated by the computer, or areas that are outside of the temperature scale. As you see more and more images, you will learn the difference. Images were auto-navigated using the predicted satellite position, which may be slighty in error, resulting in a shift of the coastline. Exact navigation requires human intervention.