Satellite infra-red images in the Agulhas Current System

Abstract

Infra-red images from the satellites, NOAA 4 and 5 show that surface temperature differences in the Agulhas Current System are sufficiently contrasting to enable meso-scale features to be identified when cloud cover is absent. Those revealed by images made in 1976 to 1977 include sources of the current, time dependent wave-like structures, sharp current retroflexions, and the contribution of the Agulhas Current to the South Atlantic. The technique allows the varying circulation modes to be studied.