Dynamical oceanography studies from infrared remote sensing in the western Mediterranean Sea
Résumé
Remotely sensed data in the thermal infrared, allowing to correctly estimate the Sea Surface Temperature field, have been used since about twenty years to study various kinds of hydrodynamical phenomena in the western Mediterranean Sea. Although the measure only corresponds to the temperature of the few upper microns, in most cases it is representative of a surface layer several tens of meters thick. Mainly due to the relatively limited action range of ships, even with manageable meteorological conditions, the major input from space-borne sensors is to provide us with a synoptic information having convenient spatio-temporal resolution and coverage. Such data are used first to evidence and describe the rough features of the phenomena, then to put forward work hypotheses, help conducting experiments at sea and, on some occasions, to compute statistical parameters. Infrared satellite images are relatively cheap and easy to use, and should be much more widely used by oceanographers of all disciplines.