On the Use of Thermal Images for Circulation Studies: Applications to the Eastern Mediterranean Basin

Abstract

The use of satellite thermal infrared images to infer marine circulation features is presented, here in the case of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. Indeed, although the first schema of the surface circulation (water of Atlantic origin: AW) in the Mediterranean is one century old, the path of AW in the Eastern Basin is still debated nowadays. Does it flow along the Libyan and Egyptian slopes in a counterclockwise circuit at basin scale, or as an offshore jet that crosses the basin in its central part (Mid-Mediterranean Jet)? In this paper we describe the use and contribution of the thermal images for the study of the surface circulation in the Eastern Basin, currently underway within the framework of the programs EGYPT (Eddies and GYres Paths Tracking) and EGITTO (2005-2008).