Building Capacity in Ocean Remote Sensing with the NOAA CoastWatch Satellite Course

Identifying and using satellite data products appropriate for a given application can be challenging for users outside of the satellite community. As a result, ocean satellite data are underutilized in both research and operational oceanography. The goal of the NOAA CoastWatch satellite course is to build capacity in using satellite data within NOAA and beyond by providing background knowledge, tools, tutorials and hands-on help on individual projects to course participants. In 2020, the course was transitioned to the online environment, allowing a wider range of users outside of NOAA and the USA to attend. The course, associated resources and impacts are described, as well as recent changes and future plans. An example Python script is also provided to illustrate a typical case study and solution leveraging the ERDDAP data server to simplify data access.