Some aspects of remote sensing as applied to oceanography

Limitations in the state-of-the-art of remote sensing instrumentation and restriction of experimental ground truth, imposed by the inaccessibility of the oceanographic environment, have inhibited the application of remote sensing techniques to oceanographic research and the implementation of operational environmental monitoring programs. However, preliminary experiments are demonstrating the application of infrared sensors; surface mapping radars, radar scatterometers, surface profiling lasers, passive microwave radiometers, pulsed laser depth-finding systems, and optical scanners, cameras, and television systems to the problems of sea surface temperature measurement, sea state determination, sea ice surveillance, fisheries research, and subsurface reef detection. Data obtained from recent experiments are presented herein. It is concluded that particular attention should be paid to the development of microwave sensors to obtain an all-weather capability. Intensive research programs should be established to develop techniques for interpretation of subsurface phenomena based on surface measurements. This would enable construction of three-dimensional models describing the dynamic characteristics of the ocean.