Techniques for Enhancing and Interpreting Satellite Images to Describe the Circulation of the Arabian Sea

Several channels in the infrared and visible color of transmissions from satellites have been used to obtain images of the sea surfaces in the Arabian Sea. These images have been enhanced to produce maximum detail in the thermal patterns of the upper ocean mesoscale structure. Interpretative techniques have been developed and verified to convert the resulting thermal structure into an oceanographic analysis of the mesoscale circulation. The effects of the growth and decay of the strong Southwest Monsoon are described on a seasonal basis. Developments in software and modifications to existing software have been made at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Satellite Facilities to produce these new techniques which are now transferable to other ocean areas.