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Winter Cold Fronts & Air Masses - February 1996
February 3 and 4, 1996 saw the worst cold-air outbreak since Christmas, 1989 A strong cold front having winds of 25-30 knots preceded the cold air mass. Resuspension caused by the wind is evident in comparing images from February 1, just before the front, to February 5, after the front and cold-air had passed over south Florida. The resuspension causedby the winds associated with the front is evident. These winds were much stronger than in December 1989 and the resuspension and reflectance were much higher. The water temperature plummetted as a result of the cold air. However, the air mass was not quite as cold as in December 1989, and similarly the water temperatures on February 5 are slightly warmer than on December 1989.
February 1, 1996 - Prior to the Cold Front full-resolution image [226KB GIF]
February 5, 1996 - Following the Cold Front
InterpretationReflectance can be related to attenuation, Secchi disk depth, or total suspended solids. In Florida Bay, nominally, 10% reflectance corresponds to sediment concentration of 20 mg/l or a Secchi disk depth of 0.5 m. Imagery data sets are provisional and the values are subject to change. The reflectances correspond to the brightness (or turbidity) of the water; however they have not been corrected for bottom reflectance. The images were produced from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer on NOAA weather satellites. Clouds are masked in gray; land in brown. The December 1989 imagery was derived from raw data acquired from NOAA National Climatic Data Center. |
U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
