3 Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing and Sea Surface Temperature . . .
61
Fig. 3.2 SST monthly composites [
◦ C] from MODIS Terra for 2005 in the Southern African area.
SST lower than 22–23
◦ C have been masked out (dark grey) to highlight the extent of the Agulhas
Current. Data extracted from http://gmis.jrc.ec.europa.eu using the ‘threshold’ analysis tool
numerical studies. Nevertheless, Natal pulses and associated eddies are critical in
the life cycle of marine organisms and migration of commercial fishes (Fréon et al.
2010; Roberts et al. 2010), underlining the importance to monitoring these features
on an operational basis using high-resolution TIR sensors.
North of the Agulhas Current, the hydrography in the Mozambique channel
also show great spatio-temporal variability with a number of anti-cyclonic eddies
propagating southward and directly affecting the Agulhas Current system and the
variability of Natal pulses (De Ruijter et al. 2002; Schouten et al. 2003; Lutjeharms
2006; Swart et al. 2010).
61
Fig. 3.2 SST monthly composites [
◦ C] from MODIS Terra for 2005 in the Southern African area.
SST lower than 22–23
◦ C have been masked out (dark grey) to highlight the extent of the Agulhas
Current. Data extracted from http://gmis.jrc.ec.europa.eu using the ‘threshold’ analysis tool
numerical studies. Nevertheless, Natal pulses and associated eddies are critical in
the life cycle of marine organisms and migration of commercial fishes (Fréon et al.
2010; Roberts et al. 2010), underlining the importance to monitoring these features
on an operational basis using high-resolution TIR sensors.
North of the Agulhas Current, the hydrography in the Mozambique channel
also show great spatio-temporal variability with a number of anti-cyclonic eddies
propagating southward and directly affecting the Agulhas Current system and the
variability of Natal pulses (De Ruijter et al. 2002; Schouten et al. 2003; Lutjeharms
2006; Swart et al. 2010).