Ocean and atmosphere models traditionally use bulk ocean temperature records as inputs. However, ATSR measures the radiance at the top of the atmosphere which is the radiometric skin temperature of the ocean surface modified by the atmosphere. The ATSR retreival algorithm is designed to extract this skin temperature from ATSR radiance. The global coverage of the ATSR ocean skin data set means that it is advantageous to use these data in climate models. In this study, the spatial variability of the ocean skin temperature over small scales (<10m) is examined using in-situ data. The skin temperature variability is compared to the variability of local geophysical parameters. It is found that relatively small changes in wind speed, short wave solar flux, long wave flux and humidity can be expected to increase skin temperature variability. The implications of the spatial variability of ocean skin temperature and the bulk-skin temperature difference in the use of satellite-derived skin temperatures in climate models is discussed.