Baja California Satellite Calibration & Validation
A 60-day cruise to study sea surface temperature and air-sea heat fluxes along dynamic frontal regions off the coast of California.
The Problem
The 60-day Baja Campaign cruise was the first time the Saildrone USV platform was used in comparison studies with a satellite. The Saildrone Explorer sailed from San Francisco along the US/Mexico coast toward Guadalupe Island across the highly variably California Current System. The goal of this mission was to perform a three-way comparison between data collected from a Saildrone USV, the satellite, and moored buoys and research vessels along the track in a region known for complex air-land-sea dynamics.
Outcome
The data collected from this mission works toward advancing research into upwelling dynamics, air-sea fluxes, and ocean fronts in an economically important part of the ocean.
“The capability of Saildrone to measure ocean parameters such as SST and SSS in areas where they can change over very small temporal and spatial scales provides a unique validation tool. The animations clearly show differences do exist between the satellite products and Saildrone, a clear indication the sampling of Saildrone is resolving scales of the ocean not visible in the satellite products.”
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