FOREWORD 



This report by the ARACON Geophysics Company, a division of Allied Research 

 Associates, Inc. , Concord, Mass. , presents the results of a first study of the 

 feasibility of observing sea surface temperatures, or temperature gradients, using 

 satellite data for an infrared window. These studies were performed for the 

 Meteorological Programs Division, Headquarters, National Aeronautics and 

 Space Administration under Contract No. NASW-1157. 



Acknowledgement is due to Mr. Richard G. Terwilliger of the Meteorological 

 Programs Division for his .continuing interest and assistance during the course of 

 this investigation; and to Messrs. William R. Bandeen and Robert Hite of the Physics 

 Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, for their cooperation in processing and 

 providing sample cases of the otherwise unavailable TIROS "real time" IR data. 



The authors further wish to acknowledge the kind assistance and encouragement 

 offered by Messrs. Joseph Chase and Robert Alexander, and other scientists at the 

 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. 



Mr. David Chang of ARACON Geophysics Company performed the atmospheric 

 attenuation calculations for most of the cases discussedherein. Dr. William K. Widger 

 also of ARACON provided useful suggestions throughout the study, and assisted in the 

 editing of this report. 



