getting the same data from Florida, 

 Bohm says. 



Since the early 1980s, MEAS has 

 gathered low-resolution images from 

 the satellite and supplemented them 

 with higher-resolution data through 

 the Rosenstiel School of Marine and 

 Atmospheric Sciences at the Univer- 

 sity of Miami. 



Now, NCSU's accessing ability 



makes it one of only six universities 

 nationally that can collect ocean 

 temperatures directly from the 

 satellites. The data will be available 

 to other North Carolina universities 

 and state agencies, Pietrafesa says. 



Robert Dennis, an oceanographer 

 in NOAA's Office of Research and 

 Applications, says the satellites are 

 public domain and can be tapped 



worldwide by anybody who has the 

 proper equipment. 



"One of the things about meteo- 

 rological satellites is their data is not 

 coded. It's not restricted informa- 

 tion," Dennis says. "Anybody can 

 sit there with a receiver and receive 

 the satellite data." 



The infrared technology, 

 however, is not without drawbacks. 

 It cannot see through clouds, which 

 are common near the Gulf Stream 

 where moisture is heavy in the air. 

 And these satellites can only read 

 the temperature on the skin of the 

 ocean. Also, the gradients are nearly 

 impossible to distinguish during 

 summer months when coastal waters 

 heat to about the same temperature 

 as the Gulf Stream. 



For these reasons, satellites have 

 not replaced the more conventional 

 instruments for measuring the 

 ocean's vital signs, Bohm says. The 

 tried-and-true methods are still the 

 best gauges for temperature, salinity 

 and speed of currents below the 

 surface, which can tell researchers 

 about the originating point of a 

 water mass. 



But satellites offer an overview 

 — the big picture — for researchers 

 to put their findings into context. 

 And they are able to corroborate the 

 findings of these conventional 

 instruments, which are usually 

 trailed at staggered depths from 

 ships and sea buoys. 



The technology has also let 

 NCSU researchers test their models 

 for the causes of natural phenomena 

 such as red tide, which polluted 

 shellfish off the North Carolina 

 coast in 1987-88. The dinoflagellate, 

 which originated on the west coast 

 of Florida, washed ashore in a 

 pocket of warm water that broke 

 away from the Gulf Stream. It was 

 carried by a combination of winds 

 and currents that were tracked and 

 plugged into a formula for predict- 

 ing future episodes. The resulting 



A dish tracks the satellites as they orbit 500 miles overhead and taps into 

 the East Coast data. Graduate research assistant Emanuele Bohm checks 

 equipment on an NCSU campus rooftop. 



6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1992 



