Reconnaissance of marine resources
A test area along the NW Coast of Africa was used during the Skylab mission to study the distribution of temperature and plankton. The S190B Earth Terrain Camera with a spectral film response of 0.4-0.7 micrometers allowed qualitative estimates of the distribution patterns of suspended material. Differentiation between inorganic particles and phytoplankton could be made by comparing the green band and the red band of the S190A Camera System. The pictorial display of data obtained from the S191 scanning radiometer in the 10-11 micrometer atmospheric window allowed a detailed interpretation of the temperature distribution in the area where cold upwelled water reaches the euphotic zone. The comparison between infrared data and the imageries taken simultaneously indicated the origin of the cold water as well as the pathway within the Canary current. A fish survey carried out almost simultaneously in the area, by echosounding, showed high correlation between the position of good fishing grounds and the distribution of plankton as detected by remote sensing detectors on Skylab.