This image was obtained by a NOAA satellite using a scanning radiometer sensitive to the wavelengths of infrared radiation. Because of this wavelength sensitivity, the image represents a view which you could not see with your own eyes since they are not "visibly" sensitive to radiation of these wavelengths. By measuring infrared radiation at wavelengths in an "atmospheric window", the NOAA satellite instrument can observe radiation emitted by the sea surface, and relate that radiation to the temperature of the sea surface using principles of physics, such as Planck's law.