Guest Editor:
Dr. James H. Churnside
Ocean Remote Sensing Working Group
NOAA
Earth System Research Laboratory, Physical Science Division (PSD)
Formerly Environmental Technology Laboratory
325 Broadway R/ETL, Boulder, Colorado 80305-3328
E-Mail: James.H.Churnside@noaa.gov; http://www.etl.noaa.gov/et2/ocean/
This group applies lidar techniques to identify and count fish populations in coastal waters. Instruments developed at ETL can be easily mounted in a small aircraft, providing much extended coverage over commonly-used surface techniques. Current research is aimed at identifying specific fish species and at development of new techniques to identify biologically-stressed estuaries.
Deadline for Paper submission: 31 May 2008
Summary
The ocean covers three quarters of the surface of this planet, and is a major factor affecting conditions here. Life originated in the ocean, and continues because of the ocean’s affects on climate. It is also important for transportation, recreation, and resources that include food and pharmaceuticals. Despite this, no one can argue that the ocean is well understood. Measurements are very difficult, and remote sensing will have to play an increasing role in all aspects of ocean science. Important sensors include optical imagers and acoustics on submsersibles and surface ships; LIDAR, radar, multi- and hyper-spectral imagers, and optical and microwave radiometers on aircraft; and optical and microwave imagers and radiometers on satellites. Inferred quantities include ocean surface winds, sea-surface temperature and salinity, sea surface height, ocean color, bathymetry, and distribution and abundance of biota. This special issue attempts to bring together a wide variety of papers on the sensor technology and applications of ocean remote sensing.
Keywords
Oceanography, climate, remote sensing, sonar, radar, lidar, radiometry, ocean color
Published Papers
Tymon Zielinski 1,* and Bringfried Pflug 2
1 Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Powstancow Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland. E-mail: tymon@iopan.gda.pl
2 Remote Sensing Technology Institute, DLR - German Aerospace Center, Rutherfordstr. 2, D-12489 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: Bringfried.Pflug@dlr.de
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 1 November 2007 / Accepted: 17 December 2007 / Published: 19 December 2007
Full Research Paper: Lidar-based Studies of Aerosol Optical Properties Over Coastal Areas
Sensors 2007, 7, 3347-3365 (PDF format, 239 K)
ZhongPing Lee 1, Kendall Carder 2, Robert Arnone 1 and MingXia He 3
1 Naval Research Lab, Code 7333, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, USA
2 College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA
3 Ocean Remote Sensing Institute, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: zplee@nrlssc.navy.mil
Received: 5 November 2007 / Accepted: 17 December 2007 / Published: 20 December 2007
Full Research Paper: Determination of Primary Spectral Bands for Remote Sensing of Aquatic Environments
Sensors 2007, 7, 3428-3441 (PDF format, 1740 K)
James H. Churnside* and James J. Wilson
NOAA ESRL CSD3, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
E-mail: james.j.wilson@noaa.gov.
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: james.h.churnside@noaa.gov
Received: 16 November 2007 / Accepted: 4 February 2008 / Published: 8 February 2008
Full Research Paper: Ocean Color Inferred from Radiometers on Low-flying Aircraft
Sensors 2008, 8, 860-876 (PDF format, 496 K)
Submitted and Planned Papers
Title: "Use of Airborne Hyperspectral Radiance Data for Pigment Identification"
Authors: Karl H. Szekielda[1], Jeffrey H. Bowles2 David Gillis2 and David Miller
[1] NRL/ASEE Summer Faculty, on leave from the City University of New York; 2 Remote Sensing Division, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20375
Title: "HF RADAR SEA ECHO FROM SHALLOW WATER "
Authors: B.J. Lipa, B.B. Nyden, D. E. Barrick and J. Kohut
Codar Ocean Sensors, 125 La Sandra Way, Portola Valley, CA 94028 United States
Abstract: HF radar systems are widely and routinely used for the measurement of ocean surface currents and waves. Analysis methods presently in use are based on the assumption of infinite water depth, and are therefore inadequate close to shore where the radar echo is strongest. In this paper, we treat the situation when the radar beam is returned from ocean waves that interact with the ocean floor. Simulations are described which demonstrate the effect of shallow water on radar sea-echo. These are used to investigate limits on the existing theory and to define water depths below which the infinite-depth assumption is invalid. We analyze radar echo from shallow water measured by a Rutgers University HF radar system to produce estimates of wave height, period and direction, which are compared with simultaneous buoy measurements.
Authors: Lohrenz, S.E., Department of Marine Science, The University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, USA, Steven.Lohrenz@usm.edu
Cai, W.-J.,Department of Marine Sciences, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA, wcai@uga.edu
Chen, X., Department of Marine Science, The University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, USA
Tuel, M., Department of Marine Science, The University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, USA
Bio-Optical Properties of Northern Gulf of Mexico Coastal Waters Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Abstract: The impacts of major tropical storms events on coastal waters include sediment resuspension as well as increased delivery of terrestrial materials into coastal waters. We conducted a survey of optical properties in coastal waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico following two major hurricane events: Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on 29 August 2005, and Hurricane Rita, which made landfall on 24 September. We hypothesized that the effects of storms would result in elevated levels of dissolved and particulate materials in the coastal waters compared to previous years. MODIS Aqua true color imagery revealed high turbidity levels immediately following the storms indicative of intense resuspension. However, subsequent imagery showed relatively rapid clearing of water column conditions. Indeed, MODIS Aqua-derived estimates of diffuse attenuation at 490 nm (K490) and chlorophyll from mid-August prior to the landfall of Hurricane Katrina were comparable to those observed in mid-September following the storm. An interannual comparison of satellite-derived estimates of K490 for early October revealed negative anomalies in 2005, compared to the four year mean, in the vicinity of the Mississippi River birdfoot delta, but slightly positive anomalies in surrounding waters. The negative anomaly near the delta could be attributed to relatively low river discharge during the preceding months of the 2005 season. Positive anomalies elsewhere were consistent with increased delivery of materials into the water column, presumably due to storm-induced terrestrial run-off and resuspension.
Title: WATER QUALITY MONITORING FOR LAKE CONSTANCE WITH A PHYSICALLY BASED ALGORITHM FOR MERIS DATA
Authors: Daniel Odermatt 1, Thomas Heege2, Jens Nieke1,3, Mathias Kneubühler1 and Klaus Itten1
1. Remote Sensing Laboratories (RSL), Zurich, Switzerland; daniel.odermatt@geo.uzh.ch
2. EOMAP GmbH & Co. KG, Gilching, Germany; heege@eomap.de
3. ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands; jens.nieke@esa.int
Abstract: A physically based algorithm for inland water constituent retrieval is used for the processing of MERIS level 1B full resolution data of Lake Constance. The algorithm was designed for Lake Con-stance, but also successfully used for several other marine and inland water environments. It is originally used with several input variables for individual optimization with different sensors (i.e. channel recalibration and weighting), aquatic regions (i.e. specific inherent optical properties) or atmospheric conditions (i.e. aerosol models). For operational use, however, a lake-specific param-eterization for best performance with all available MERIS datasets is required, representing an approximation of the spatio-temporal variation in atmospheric and hydro-optic conditions, and ac-counting for variations in the reliability of the sensor’s calibration.
The specific inherent optical properties (SIOP) used for the water constituent retrieval are esti-mated by means of an analysis of extensive spectroradiometric subsurface reflectance measure-ments, including data from previous projects. During pre-processing, the Lake Constance area is automatically extracted from MERIS images. The algorithm then performs atmospheric correction through a LUT approach on at-sensor radiance data in a first module, and a downhill simplex model-input fit for the retrieval of concentrations of chlorophyll-a, suspended matter and gelbstoff from subsurface irradiance reflectance in the second module. In post-processing, the output maps are filtered by replacing pixels with low agreement of measured and modelled spectra by neighbouring pixels retrieved at a better agreement. Cloud cover information from MERIS metadata is added to the output images to allow a quick estimate of the performance of the atmospheric correction. Constituent concentration outputs and associated quality parameters are extracted both as spatial averages and for sampling locations, and written to a table with a time series of all processed data.
To validate the chlorophyll-a output, we use water quality sampling measurements acquired by the International Commission for the Protection of Lake Constance (IGKB). We defined a training dataset consisting of 27 pairs of coinciding MERIS data and water quality measurements in the years 2003-2005, which are within no more than three days each. The general applicability of the method for Lake Constance, its sensitivity to atmospheric correction, variations in empirical recalibration and reasons for processing errors as well as possible solutions are investigated.
Title: "Mapping Wind Speed Variability on the Mesoscale using Synthetic Aperture Radar"
Authors: George S. Young 1, Todd D. Sikora 2 and Nathaniel S. Winstead 3
1 Pennsylvania State University Department of Meteorology; 2 Millersville University Department of Earth Sciences; 3 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Abstract: Many maritime operations are sensitive to near-surface wind speed, and thus subject to disruption if it varies markedly in time and/or space. While numerical weather prediction models do a credible job of predicting the day-to-day evolution of synoptic scale wind speed, they often fail to capture much of the wind speed’s mesoscale variability. Space-based remote sensors such as scatterometers and synthetic aperture radars offer a means of mapping this mesoscale variability, and so providing a nowcasting capability. Scatterometers currently resolve the wind speed characteristics of only the largest of mesoscale phenomena. In contrast, synthetic aperture radar, and its derived wind speed imagery, allow for the analysis of the full spectrum of mesoscale phenomena and thus its associated wind speed variability. In this paper, synthetic aperture radar-based digital filtering techniques are presented for distinguishing and quantifying the two dominant types of mesoscale wind variability, shear zones associated with the fronts of extra-tropical cyclones and topographically induced flows, and squalls-lull patterns caused by precipitating convection. These methods are demonstrated on wind speed imagery derived from the Radarsat-1 synthetic aperture radar.
Title: "Synthetic Aperture Radar as an Anemometer – Methods and Applications in Mesoscale Meteorology"
Authors: Nathaniel S. Winstead 1, George S. Young 2 and Todd D. Sikora 3
1 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 2 The Pennsyvania State University Department of Meteorology, 3 Millersville University Department of Meteorology
Abstract: The remote sensing of winds using C-band, satellite borne synthetic aperture radars (SAR) has rapidly expanded over the past decade. With the launch of multiple high-quality satellites (i.e. Radarsat-1, ENVISAT, ALOS, Terra-SAR X) and with the planned launch of additional satellites (e.g. Radarsat-2), many current and future opportunities to use SAR remote sensing to study a wide range of atmospheric flows exist. In this paper, we review the techniques for obtaining quantitative estimates of the near-surface marine wind field from SAR including the primary geophysical model functions that relate the normalized radar backscatter cross-section from SAR with the near-surface marine wind field. We summarize the performance of these algorithms as reported in the literature. Finally, we provide some examples of the myriad of mesoscale atmospheric flows that have been imaged by SAR and reported in the literature.
Title: "Ionospheric Sounding: a new way for Tsunami detection and warning systems"
Author: Giovanni Occhipinti - JPL/Caltech - E-mail : ninto@gps.caltech.edu, Tel : [1] (626).395.8906, Fax : [1] (626).564.0715, http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~ninto/
Abstract: The December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami generated the largest data set ever observed in the history of tsunami research. The observations showed ocean sea surface displacement, as well as strong ionospheric anomalies. Total electron content (TEC) perturbations have been observed on a global scale, (with height resolution over the Indian Ocean) using ground-based and space-borne GPS receivers, Doppler soundings and dual-frequency altimeters (e.g., Jason-1 and Topex/Poseidon).
The observed perturbations may be characterized as two different waves. The first one is an atmospheric wave in the acoustic domain induced by propagation of Rayleigh waves on the Earth surface. The second one is a slower atmospheric wave in the gravity domain strongly coupled with the generated tsunami.
The Rayleigh wave signature in the ionospheric plasma has been observed in the past, and we corroborate with our observation and modeling the coupling mechanism described in the past.
On the other hand, the connection between the tsunami wave propagation and the observed ionospheric anomalies has not been shown before. In order to find this connection, we have recently reproduced the tsunami signature in the ionospheric plasma by an accurate 3D modelling of gravity waves propagation and we show here the potential applications of the tsunami-ionosphere coupling mechanism in the ocean monitoring.
This approach takes into account the tsunami-neutral atmosphere coupling at the base of the atmosphere as well as the neutral-plasma coupling in the overlying ionosphere. The resulting TEC model was validated using the Topex/Poseidon and Jason-1 altimeter-derived TEC data. The different data sources, available to observe the tsunami-generated TEC perturbations, will be analyzed in the light of modeling.
These results open new perspective in the solid earth research as well as in the tsunami detection providing a new insight into the role of the ionospheric sounding in an improved future tsunami warning system.
Title: "The development of satellite sensors for marine environment in China"
Authors: PAN Delu and BAI Yan
State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamic,
Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, 310012
Abstract: In the east of Pacific Ocean, China Sea has the broad area and diverse oceanographic properties, which cover the temperate zone, sub-tropic zone and tropic zone from north to south, with the coastal line of 18,000 km long. As the most importance part of national economy, resource and security, the marine environment monitoring is very important; and satellite remote sensing for marine environment is now showing its unique and increasingly advantages for synchronous-monitoring in large space scale and high frequency for long term. In this paper, firstly, the properties of Chinese orbiting satellite sensors for marine environment are introduced, including the VHRSR(Very High Resolution Scattering Radiometer) onboard the meteorological satellite FY-1(FengYun) series, the COCTS(Chinese Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner) and CZI(Coastal Zone Imager) onboard the oceanographic satellite HY-1(Hai Yang) series, and the tentative sensor CMODIS(Chinese Moderate Imaging Spectra Radiometer) and the CMMRS (China Multimode Microwave Remote Sensor) onboard the Shen Zhou series spacecraft, SZ-3 and SZ-4, representatively. With the satellite oceanographic data, great progresses have taken place in China on the algorithms development, data application and systems operation. Secondly, the planning-launch satellites with the application in ocean observing in the next five years are introduced, and the prospective development of satellite sensors for marine environment detection in China is also brought forward. In the long-term goal, China will establish a stable earth-observing system with the satellite series of meteorological satellites, oceanographic satellites, recourse satellites, and the constellation of small satellite for environment and disaster monitoring and forecasting, to support the integrated and dynamic monitoring of the land, ocean and atmosphere in China and its adjacent area, and ever the global earth. Meanwhile, with the abundant satellite data resource, the technology of satellite data application in marine environment is also growing fast into the operational service, taking its important roles in the marine monitoring and forecasting, environment protection, resource exploration, and disaster precaution, etc.
Keywords: Satellite Sensor, China Sea, Marine Environment Detection
Title: "The characteristic of water inherent optical properties and the application of semi-analytic algorithms in China Yellow Sea and East China Sea"
Authors: BAI Yan, PAN Delu, He Xianqiang, Huang Haiqing
State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamic,
Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, 310012
Abstract: The China Yellow Sea and East Sea are the typical continental shelf sea, which are one of the most turbidity sea area around the world. The water is physically, biogeochemical, and therefore optically complex as a result of the mixing water from terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. It is a challenge job to retrieve the water information from ocean color satellite data in this optically complex water, therefore, the study and retrieval of water inherent optical properties (IOPs) is very import. Based on the in situ dataset of the optical investigation in China Yellow Sea and East Sea in the spring of 2003, the characteristics of absorption coefficient, backscattering coefficient and attenuation coefficient of water substances are analyzed, which show that the absorption coefficient of colored dissolved material, non-algal particle and pigment have no the correlative variation with the high influence of non-algal particle; and because of the complex composition of particles, the spectrum of particle backscattering coefficient and attenuation coefficient are not very follow the power function which attenuated with the increasing of wavelength. Using the in situ radiance data and common IOPs semi-analytic algorithms (e.g. Lee-QAA and GSM01), the total absorption coefficient and particle backscattering coefficient is inversed. Compared with the in situ data, the inversed data is remarkably underestimated in the sample stations with high absorption coefficient and backscattering coefficient due to the influence of terrestrial materials. With the analyses of the error of IOPs semi-analytic algorithms applied in China costal area, the suggestion is put forward for the development of IOPs algorithms based with the regional IOPs characteristics.
Keywords: Inherent optical properties, East China Sea, coastal water, semi-analytic algorithm
Title: "Simultaneous measurements of chlorophyll concentration by LIDAR, fluorometry, above-water radiometry, and ocean color MODIS images in the Southwestern Atlantic"
Authors: Milton Kampel 1, João A. Lorenzzetti 1, Cristina Maria Bentz 2, Raul A. Nunes 3, Rodolfo Paranhos 4, Frederico de Moraes Rudorff 1 and Alexandre Tadeu Politano 2
1 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), PO Box 515, 12201-970, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil, {milton, loren, fmr}@dsr.inpe.br
2 PETROBRAS/CENPES, Cidade Universitária, Q.7, Ilha do Fundão, 21949-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, {cris, politano.gorceix}@petrobras.com.br
3 Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), PO Box 38008, 22453-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, {nunes}@dcmm.puc-rio.br
4 Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Cidade Universitária, Av. Pau Brasil 211, Ilha do Fundão, 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, {rodpar}@biologia.ufrj.br
Abstract: Comparisons between in situ measurements of surface chlorophyll concentration and ocean color remote sensing estimates were conducted during an oceanographic cruise in the Brazilian Southeastern continental shelf and slope, Southwestern South Atlantic. In situ estimates were based on fluorometry, above-water radiometry and LIDAR fluorosensor. Three empirical algorithms were used to estimate chlorophyll-a concentration from radiometric measurements: Ocean Chlorophyll 3 bands (OC3M), Ocean Chlorophyll 4 bands (OC4v4), and Ocean Chlorophyll 2 bands (OC2v4). The satellite estimates of chlorophyll-a were derived from data collected by the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) with a nominal 1.1 km resolution at nadir. Three algorithms were used to estimate chlorophyll concentrations from MODIS data: one empirical - OC3M, and two semi-analytical - Garver, Siegel, Maritorena version 01 (GSM01), and Carder. In the present work, LIDAR, MODIS and in situ above-water radiometry and fluorometry are briefly described and the estimated values of chlorophyll retrieved by these techniques are compared.
Keywords: Chlorophyll, LIDAR, Fluorometry, Above-water radiometry , MODIS.
Title(s): "HF radio oceanography : the synergy between skywave and surface wave radars";
"Detection and classification of marine mammals by means of polarimetric microwave radar" and "Radar signatures of microscale wave breaking"
Authors: Stuart Anderson and James Morris
DSTO Electronics and Surveillance Research Laboratory, Commercial Rd, Salisbury South Australia 5108
Submission
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Mr. Matthias Burkhalter
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MDPI - Matthias Burkhalter - 4 April 2008