Question

(iii) In addition to direct measurements, relative sea surface temperatures can be inferred with radar measurements from satellites. Cold sea surface water will be further away from the satellite than warm sea surface water. Explain why this occurs.

Answer 1

Answer:

The reason cold sea surface water will be further away from the satellite than warm sea surface water is because the satellites are placed a relatively fixed height. The waters levels however are not.

Explanation:

Whenever the climate heats up, sea water level rises because:

• first, the sea water expands as it is heated up;

• second, as the climate and the sea gets warmers, the icecaps melt. Both action give an upward spiral to the water level.

So, because the satellites are fixed but the water level is rising, the distance between the satellites and the warm sea surface water is reduced.

In contrast, as the climate gets cooler, water contracts and freezes up and cause the water level to shrink thus causing the satellite to be 'farther away' from the surface of the water.

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