GHRSST Annual Report 2025

This annual report reflects the work and achievements of the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) during the year 2025. As an open international science community, GHRSST is steered by the contributions, activities and results of its international Science Team Members, who are dedicated to advancing the field of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and its relation to operational weather forecasting, oceanography, and climate science. The mission of GHRSST remains focused on delivering high-quality, satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) data, defining best practices for data processing, and fostering collaboration across the international SST community.

As every year, GHRSST hosted its annual International SST Users’ Symposium and GHRSST Science Team Meeting, which in 2025 took place in June in Copenhagen, Denmark, organised by the Danish Meteorological Institute. This yearly symposium brings together SST experts, researchers, data
producers and users, with focused talks, poster presentation, workshops and discussions. The 26th edition of the symposium (GHRSST26) gathered more than 130 participants and included over 80 presentations and posters. Highlights of the meeting included the identification of GHRSST priority areas for the next period, and the creation of new Task Teams to integrate this work, as well as requests for guidance on upcoming technical issues. There is a need for updated methods for calculating global SST indicators and communicating associated uncertainties, as well as interest in new approaches to harmonising recent satellite SST records with long-term historical datasets.
Across different applications of SST data, GHRSST’s role in providing a framework for data sharing, and best practices for data processing, therefore remains highly important.

The GHRSST Science Team members contribute regularly to the publication of new scientific knowledge, as well as to international collaborations, outreach activities and training initiatives. This annual report also serves as a document to highlight some of these contributions and reflect on the accomplishments of the GHRSST members.