Atmospheric front over the East China Sea studied by multisensor satellite and in situ data

A frontal feature visible on a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image acquired by the Radarsat satellite over the East China Sea on 19 November 2000 is analyzed in conjunction with data acquired by Quikscat, TOPEX/Poseidon, Tropical Rain Measurement Mission (TRMM), Defense Meteorological Satellite Program ( DMSP), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites, and with data obtained from ship measurements. Although this frontal feature is located close to the Kuroshio front, it is demonstrated that it is not a sea surface manifestation of an oceanic front, but rather of an atmospheric front extending over 800 km from an area of the Pacific Ocean northeast of Taiwan to the southern coast of Korea. It is a cold front moving in the southeast direction with a speed of approximately 45-50 km/hour and associated with a 40-km-wide rainband trailing the front. The Radarsat image, which has a resolution of 50 m, reveals fine-scale structures of the atmospheric front, in particular small-scale convective rain cells embedded in the front. Conclusion is drawn that accurate interpretation of frontal features in SAR images requires use of additional meteorological and remote sensing data and information.