An analysis of selected satellite data of the Aegean area with the STARS software

Abstract

Data from selected orbits of the NOAA-7 meteorological satellite are used for an exploratory analysis

of the surface variability in the area of the Aegean Sea using the STARS software system. The data

suggest that a patch of cooler water (<22 deg C in summer) in the north-west Aegean is due to mixing

in the Dardanelles. Another cool patch in the Gulf of Corinth may be due to wind-induced upwelling

and tidal-induced mixing. Excellent correlation is found between albedo (here a measure of surface

roughness) and surface temperature, with low albedo associated with high temperature; the relative

patterns are displaced spatially depending upon the topography of the adjacent shoreline