Physical and biological oceanography of the northern Bering Sea including the plume of the Yukon River were studied using satellite data in conjunction with shipboard measurements. The satellite data recorded by the NOAA Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR) and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and the Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) and Thematic Mapper (TM) sensors were used to detect sea surface temperatures and suspended sediments. Shipboard measurements of temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll were acquired by the Inner Shelf Transfer and Recycling (ISHTAR) project and were compared to digitally enhanced and archived satellite images. Sea surface temperatures derived from satellite data were generally higher than field measurements. This difference was the likely result of microscale stratification of the water column, although other factors could have been involved also. Satellite data confirmed the known distribution of water masses in the region (Coachman et al., 1975). Upwelled water of oceanic origin (Anadyr Water) was visible as a cold surface plume running from Anadyr Strait north through western Bering Strait. In the east, warm Alaskan Coastal Water was prominent along the Alaskan coast including Norton Sound and the southeastern Chukchi Sea. Areal patterns of temperature, salinity, and phytoplankton distribution, determined from field measurements, agreed reasonably well with patterns of water mass distribution obtained from satellite images. Archived satellite images (1974–1978) were used to investigate the variability of the distribution of sea surface temperature and of the turbid plume of the Yukon River. Alaskan Coastal Water (ACW) first warms near the coast in June and the process extends seaward as summer progresses. Turbid water associated with discharge of the Yukon River progresses in the same fashion, extending northward across the entrance to Norton Sound. Maximum extent of the plume occurs in October. Anadyr Water flows north through Anadyr Strait past St. Lawrence Island; its extent is variable depending on mesoscale pressure and local wind fields.