The Use of Satellite Imagery in the Monitoring and Forecasting of Sargassum Seaweed in the Caribbean Phase II of the Sargassum Early Advisory System

In 2011, the Southern Caribbean was plagued by an unusually massive amount of seaweed wrack, an event so rare that locals couldn't think of a season where Sargassum had been that abundant, for sixty years. At this time, the SEAS program had been created, however the path of the seaweed from the Atlantic to the beaches of Texas had yet to be determined. This event sparked the idea that seaweed migrated through the Caribbean then North through the Yucatan Peninsula. While this idea was only partially correct, it did initiate the second phase of the SEAS Program. As it turns out, the seaweed drifts through the Northern passages of the Caribbean (Windward, Mona, and Anegada Passages) and migrates westward, rather than entering the Caribbean from the Southeastern islands (the Virgin Islands down to Granada). Monitoring these passes using ground-truthing and local reports has proven difficult, so in order to determine the presence of seaweed, one can use remote sensing. NASA's satellite Landsat 7 produces images of the passes every eight days, allowing the SEAS Team to monitor the Sargassum. These images have a sufficient resolution to see seaweed mats in the ocean. Based on several factors, such as ocean and wind currents, time of the year, and size of seaweed mats, one can ultimately forecast Sargassum as it makes its journey through the loop system. The seaweed is monitored as it migrates westward, and eventually gets pushed North in massive blooms as a result of neritic waters. These blooms can travel North in warm water gyres. The Sargassum can then break off and wash up on the beaches of Texas or get caught in the Gulf Stream where it is flushed out the Florida Straits back into the Atlantic. Remote sensing makes the first ever system of monitoring Sargassum possible and allows for advanced warning of these troublesome seaweed wracks up and down the coast.