Advanced Land Observing Satellite PALSAR Observations of the Oceanic Dynamic Phenomena in the Coastal Zone

Satellite SAR is a valuable tool providing all-weather data on the mesoscale and fine-scale features of phenomena and processes both in the open ocean and in the coastal zones. Analysis of C-band ERS-1/2 SAR and Envisat ASAR ocean images allowed selecting the areas for detailed study with L-band ALOS PALSAR data. The Kuroshio-Oyashio confluence zone, Soya Warm Current, Okhotsk Sea shelf, the Kuril Straits, Pacific Ocean east of Kamchatka, Peter the Great and Toyama Bays in the Japan Sea, Taiwan Strait and several areas in the East- and South-China Seas are among them. A rather remarkable assemblage of oceanic dynamic phenomena such as currents, coastal fronts, eddies, internal waves, river plumes, etc. were evident in the PALSAR images. The detailed study was carried out for the images with well-defined imprints of oceanic dynamic, for which ancillary data consisting of Terra and Aqua MODIS and NOAA AVHRR images, QuikSCAT-derived wind fields, ocean color, surface analysis maps, bathymetry maps, etc. were available.