Sparce upper air data from Mosulpo in Korea indicated similar, but slightly- 

 drier conditions than reported at Tateno that same day (11 August); the Tateno data 

 were discussed in the previous section. Due to the effect of higher nadir angles, 



however, the appropriate attenuation correction in this case is 10 K. The total 



o o 



error is thus approximately 12 K, raising the corrected average to 291 K, still 



9 less than the anticipated value for this region. No ship reports were available 



to substantiate the finding of isothermal conditions. 



5. 3 Consistency Tests 



As can be seen from the previous discussions, the problem of finding con- 

 ventional data to substantiate the IR observations and analyses is a formidable one. 

 Accordingly, it was decided to apply a series of consistency tests to the IR data. 

 If the IR data from different days can be shown to be consistent over areas where 

 it is expected that day to day temperature changes will be small, then a greater 

 level of credability may be assigned to the day to day small and large scale SST 

 pattern changes observed in the absence of conventional measurements. Three 

 areas were chosen for this part of the study: (1) the Sea of Okhotsk, which is 

 partially sealed off from the North Pacific by the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril 

 Islands; (2) the Gulf of Alaska; and (3) the relatively isothermal waters of the Indian 

 Ocean off the northwest coast of Australia. 



5. 3. 1 Sea of Okhotsk Cases 



The Sea of Okhotsk is an area of slow SST change. Nephanalyses for 22, 2 3 

 and 25 June 1963 indicated largely clear conditions over the area. On all three days 

 the TIROS radiometer was in the alternating-open mode when passing over the Sea 

 of Okhotsk. 



The analysis for the first day is shown in Figure 5-4. These data were taken 

 from Pass 51 of TIROS VII, on 22 June 1963. As was to be expected for this remote 

 area of the world, no ship reports were available. Little is known of the local cur- 

 rents, nor even of the climatic temperature trends. 



In Figure 5-4, a band of relatively warm water can be seen around the northern 

 coast of Sakhalin, and particularly around the northern entrance to the Tatar Strait, 

 which is between Sakhalin and the Russian mainland. This pattern at first suggested 

 a possible warm current, passing northward from the Sea of Japan. Closer inspection 



24 



