Browsing by Subject "Ocean circulation"

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    Open Access
    A review of South African research in atmospheric science and physical oceanography during 2000-2005
    (2006) Reason, C J C; Engelbrecht, F; Landman, W; Lutjeharms, J R E; Piketh, S; Rautenbach, C J W; Hewitson, B C
    The purpose of this article is to review progress in the fields of atmospheric science and physical oceanography made by workers based at South African institutions over approximately the last 5 years. Research published by South African scientists working abroad is not included. Most published research in these fields falls within the broad areas of climate variability, climate change, aerosols and atmospheric pollution, seasonal forecasting, numerical modelling (both atmospheric and oceanic), and the physical oceanography of the Agulhas and Benguela current systems. Most but not all of the atmospheric science papers relate to South Africa or southern Africa; however, some work pertaining to the southern hemisphere as a whole or to other regions has been done. We note that funding and institutional support for atmospheric science and physical oceanography research in South Africa remains poor and this situation significantly hampers local efforts.
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    Estimation of sea-surface temperature around southern Africa from satellite-derived microwave observations
    (2003) Rouault, M; Lutjeharms, J R E
    Sea-surface temperatures may give strong indications of the location of fronts, currents, eddies and other components of ocean circulation. This has been recognized in particular for the seas around southern Africa. Almost all studies using this property have employed measurements of thermal infrared radiation from orbiting satellites. This has distinct disadvantages due to the shading effect of persistent cloud cover. Another option is to use microwave observations, which are not affected by cloud cover. Until recently, however, the spatial resolution of microwave data was far too coarse for the purpose of studying ocean circulation in detail. We describe here a new set of microwave data that does not have this disadvantage, and show how useful it is by describing examples of local applications.