A system for routinely monitoring radiometric sea surface temperature

A fully self contained, automated thermal infrared radiometer system is presented. The unit is mounted on a tourist ferry (the MV 2001), which travels between Townsville (Queensland, Australia) and Kelso Reef, on the Great Barrier Reef (a distance of about 80 km). The system collects a mid-morning and a mid-afternoon transect of radiometric sea surface temperature for ground truthing satellite data. The system was rigorously calibrated to a standard deviation of 0.1°C, using a novel technique.