CoastWatch AVHRR SST feature image

The feature image is an example of a 7-day composite image off the U.S. northeast coast area on December 8, 1998. Water temperature from 0 to 30 C is scaled to digital pixel values from 0 to 255. A temperature scale ranging from 0 to 30 C is also shown at the bottom of the image for easy referencing. White pixels in the image represent either land points or bad values (cloudy). It shows the pronounced Gulf Stream flows along the shelf break off the North Carolina coast and the separation of the Gulf Stream from the continental slope at Cape Hatteras. It also shows well-developed meanders with several warm-core rings formed in the slop water to the north wall (intense horizontal temperature gradients) of the Gulf Stream.