Satellite Remote Sensing of the Oceans
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Sea Surface Temperature and Ocean Color There are several available sources of AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) data available on the web for sea surface temperature (SST). Here is a sequence of small size images strung together as an animated GIF file. Each image was downloaded from the University of New Hampshire website (URL not responding 05/01/01), images courtesy of NOAA CoastWatch at the University of Rhode Island. Johns Hopkins University has an image database that covers a larger portion of the US east coast, with correspondingly larger file sizes. |
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There are several good sources of SeaWiFs imagery. The University of Maine provides one that is specific to the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank region binned into 8 day composites. The Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) provided the first timeseries of ocean chlorophylla imagery from 1978 to 1986 aboard the Nimbus-7 platform. Ocean Color Thermal Scanner (OCTS) image of Gulf of Maine showing chlorophyll a. Note high concentration areas on the western side of the Great South Channel and on Georges Bank. This instrument was aboard the Japanese Midori platform, and collected imagery for a portion of the time between the end of CZCS series and the long delayed launch of SeaWiFs. No longer operational. Left: SeaWiFs image of Cape Hatteras area after the series of rains in the fall of 1999 suggesting why scallop are rarely found south of Cape Fear. Note the optically clear Gulf Stream waters and the runoff plume tending northeast. |
