Investigation of Oyashio-Kuroshio frontal zone using alos PALSAR images and ancillary information

The Kuroshio-Oyashio frontal zone is characterized by the complicated circulation; the presence of warm and cold eddies of different scales and narrow jets, many temperature fronts and intensive air-sea interaction. This region is also well known as one of the good commercial fish grounds in the world ocean. High probability of cloudiness in this area hinders getting the regular information on the sea surface using satellite infrared and visible sensors such as AVHRR and MODIS as opposite to Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. In the paper, warm eddies revealed on ALOS PALSAR images in the Kuroshio-Oyashio transition are analyzed together with ancillary satellite and in situ data.