Wind fronts in the Atlantic Ocean (I)

This image from 18 October 1993 shows a very distinct wind front in the NW-SE direction, marked as a thin line.
This front is remarkable because of its border, that is much more abrupt than, e.g., the border in the next example.

The analyzed weather map also shows fronts in the same region. The upper front in the weather map is aligned with the front seen in the SAR image and the offset of the imaged and the analyzed front is approximately 100 km.
This discrepancy in distance can be explained partially by the uncertainty in positioning the front on the weather map and partially by the time difference of about 15 minutes between SAR data acquisition and meteorological observations.

NERSC, Bergen, Norwayy

Wind fronts in the Atlantic Ocean (II)

This image acquired on 16 November 1991 shows a characteristic cross section expression of a wind front. (see profile).
Comparison with the analyzed wind fields from this day shows good agreement. The center of the low pressure is located northeast of the SAR image (see weather map), and the wind changes gradually from 15 m/s to 10 m/s across the SAR swath, while the SAR image shows that the wind speed undergoes a series of steplike decreases across the scene from near to far range.

In the image one identifies a northwesterly wind direction in the high wind speed region from the series of streaks almost parallel to the front, in qualitative agreement with the weather map.
In the weather map we also note that the isobars, and hence the wind direction, turn more westerly near the coast.

NERSC, Bergen, Norway near the coast.

Keywords: ESA European Space Agency - Agence spatiale europeenne, observation de la terre, earth observation, satellite remote sensing, teledetection, geophysique, altimetrie, radar, chimique atmospherique, geophysics, altimetry, radar, atmospheric chemistry