large images:
Sea Surface Temperature
Brightness Temperature
The National Space Development Agency of Japan's (NASDA) Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System
(AMSR-E), onboard NASA’s Aqua spacecraft, began sending high quality data on
June 1, 2002. Initial (uncalibrated) data gathered from the AMSR-E has delivered
impressive pictures of the planet’s sea surface temperature from the 6.9 Ghz
vertical polarization channel (top image) and brightness temperatures (bottom
image) from the 89.0 Ghz vertical and horizontal polarization channels and the
23.8 Ghz vertical polarization channel, averaged over the 3-day period June 2-4,
2002. The sea surface temperature image is indicative of the high level of
detail the microwave imager will routinely provide even in the presence of
substantial cloud cover. In the brightness temperature image, ice and snow cover
in white and yellow, desert areas in shades of green, other land areas in dark
colors, and oceans in shades of blue.
Images courtesy AMSR-E Science Team, National Space Development Agency of Japan