AVHRR (MetOp-1/2) Level 2/3

NOAA CoastWatch / OceanWatch / PolarWatch produces Level 2/3 sea surface temperature datasets using AVHRR sensors aboard the Metop 1/2 satellites.

Data Access

Data Tool Links	CoastWatch Near Real-Time Search
Sample Filenames	2016_300_1446_n19_ax.hdf [YYYY_JJJ_HHMM_PPP_RR.[png, tif, hdf]
HTTPS	Swath + Mapped Regions: https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/data/socd3/coastwatch/products/legacy_sst/avhrr/

Product Overview

Product Details

Short Names

AVHRR_L2

AVHRR_L3

Temporal Coverage

Near real-time + 3 days

Product Families

Sea Surface Temperature

Measurements

Sea Surface Temperature - Polar-orbiting

Processing Levels

Level 2

Level 3

Spatial Coverage

Latency Groups

0 Hours <= 24 Hours (NRT)

24+ hours (Delayed)

Latency Details

Less than 24 hours

Spatial Resolution Groups

2km+

Spatial Resolution Details

4km @Nadir; ~30km @swath edge

Platforms

Instruments

Data Providers

ESA

EUMETSAT

2026-01-14	New release of CoastWatch Utilities software (v4.1.5)
2026-01-14	Possible service interruption January 20th 1200 -1700Z
2025-11-21	Switch from Himawari-8 to Himawari-9
2025-09-11	Possible disruptions in ASCAT wind and SEVIRI SST products