Detail investigation of sea surface by microwave radar and radiometers in Joint US/Russia Internal Waves Remote Sensing Experiment

The results of the Joint US/Russia Internal Wave Remote Sensing Experiment (JUSREX) on the continental shelf of the east coast of the USA are presented. Russian research aircraft TU-134 equipped with both Ku-band real aperture radar (RAR) and radiometric instruments (RM) has participated in the experiment. A transformation of a surface wave field in the shelf break area was found by using the spectral analysis technique applied to the RAR image recorded on 07.25.92. This phenomenon is interpreted in terms of the refraction of the swell at the slope stream. The maximum stream velocity was estimated as 0.35 m/sec while the stream width is roughly equal to 26 km. Sea surface temperature and near-surface wind field were retrieved from RM data. After RM data evaluation it was established, that this stream separates cold shelf waters from warm ocean ones. Consequently, the modulation of convective processes observed over the shelf break could be explained by the presence of the stream in this area.