A study of the ocean-atmosphere interface from satellite and in situ measurements

• Main Author: Sheasby, Thomas.
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Physics 2014
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30638

The Along Track Scanning Radiometers (ATSR-1&2) on ESA's Remote Sensing Satellites (ERS-1&2) are validated using in situ radiometric data from Mutsu bay, Japan. One validation point for ATSR-1 was obtained and it was found to have an offset of -0.03K from the in situ radiometric data. Four validation points were obtained for ATSR-2 and it was fund to have an offset of 0.070.17 K in this region.;The so-called 'skin effect' is investigated to improve the characterisation of the ocean-atmosphere interface. The two contrasting data sets - one from sheltered waters and one from open ocean are compared. The data presented here show that, in open oceans, at wind speeds greater than 6ms-1, T tends to a constant value of about -0.140.1K.;The in situ radiometric data were taken using the SISTeR radiometer, designed and built by T.J. Nightingale. The absolute accuracy of this radiometer is assessed over a number of years and during the last campaign was found to be better than 0.025 K with an rms error (with a clean scan mirror) of less than 0.03 K.;The data sets required to do this work were collected during 3 field campaigns during the summers of 1996, 1997 and 1998. MUBEX'96 and '97 took place in Mutsu Bay, Japan and CHAOS'98 was a research cruise from Tenerife to Iceland on the RRS Discovery.