The distinction of different water masses by means of remote sensing data collected during the Alboran Sea Experiment

Abstract

During the Alboran Sea Experiment 1992 ("Donde va?") data sets from different remote sensing instruments have been used so as to monitor the inflow of Atlantic water through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Western Mediterranean Sea. Besides data from the AVHRR on NOAA-7, especially those from the CZCS on Nimbus-7 have been used to measure and to interpret ocean colour, and to compare satellite data with those collected from airborne radiometers and from ship-borne ground truth. The results indicate that the water masses within the anti-cyclonic gyre formed east of Gibraltar can be distinguished very well from the surrounding colder water both, by sea surface temperature (SST) and by pigment distribution.