Improving Sea Water Quality Monitoring by Integrating Satellite, Aerial and Ground based Multispectral Observations in the optical band: the case of Ionian Sea along Basilicata (Italy) coasts

Ocean color satellite instruments provide information both on sea surface optical variables (e.g. upwelling normalized water-leaving radiances) and on bio-optical parameters, such as chlorophyll-a concentration, Cromophormic Dissolved Organic Matter (C-DOM) concentration, etc. A study of these parameters and of their evolution in the space-time domain may provide useful information on the overall quality of the sea water for a specific area offering, in addition, the reference behaviors necessary for identifying significant (possibly induced by anthropic pressure) changes in the coastal environment. In this context main aim of IOSMOS (IOnian Sea water quality MOnitoring by Satellite data) - a Project for European Transnational Cooperation co financed by the Operational Programme ERDF Basilicata 2007-2013 - is the development of advanced satellite products and techniques for the study and monitoring of Ionian sea water quality in terms of bio-optical properties along Basilicata (Italy) coasts. Specific goals of the project are: i) identification, tuning and assessment of advanced satellite products useful for the estimation of parameters relevant for the bio-optical characterization of the coastal waters quality; ii) identification, tuning and assessment of advanced satellite products useful for the study of sediment transport mechanisms into the sea; iii) analysis of long-term trends (up to 15 years) to identify the most exposed areas, those at highest degradation and/or greatest potential risk. On the base of airborne and in situ calibration campaigns different literature (single-image) algorithms will be validated and their results compared with original techniques based on multi-temporal satellite data analyses. In this paper main starting points and preliminary results of the IOSMOS project will be presented.