From TRMM TMI TA data, weekly 0.25 degree grid SST binary files were processed using a Remote Sensing Systems SST algorithm. Specific regions of these weekly maps are displayed in the following examples to highlight the temporal changes which occur in major global currents. We can see the variation of the sea surface temperature throughout the regions and locate thermal boundaries or fronts.
The Gulf of Mexico Loop Current and Gulf Stream
The figure below shows the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Stream along the east coast of the United States. Warm water in this region flows northward through the Yucatan Strait into the Gulf of Mexico, where it turns westward and exits through the Straits of Florida to join the Gulf Stream flow. The distance which the Loop Current pushes north into the Gulf of Mexico is seasonally related (extending farther in summer months, less so in winter months). The eastern and western edges of the Loop Current are bound by the geography of the Gulf of Mexico basin.
Approximately once each year, the current pinches off to create a warm anticyclonic eddy that drifts slowly westward. The feature to the west of the Loop Current is such an eddy. Later, in March, 1998 the Loop Current completed the separation begun in these images and another anticyclonic eddy was created.
Gulf of Mexico Loop Current, Winter 1998 
View Quicktime Animation of the Current depicted above
The African Agulhas Current
The Agulhas Current, is a large western boundary current which flows southward along the east coast of Africa. During this six week period, a warm core eddy forms and then separates from the current. Warm water from the current can also be seen rounding Cape of Good Hope and flowing into the southeast Atlantic Ocean as part of the Benguela Current. Along the west coast of Africa, cold nutrient rich water is upwelled by Ekman flow due to equatorwards winds.
Agulhas Current, Winter 1998 
The Kuroshio Current off Japan
This figure displays the Kuroshio Current which is the Pacific counterpart to the Atlantic's Gulf Stream. Like the Gulf Stream, it carries warm tropical water poleward in an intense jet located close to the eastern coastline. The Kuroshio Current leaves the coast of Japan around 35 degrees N and becomes the Kuroshio Extension. Over the six week period depicted, the current increases in strength, reaching further North before departing the coast.
Kuroshio Current, Spring 1998 