Estimating Chlorophyll-a Concentrations in Coastal Waters of the U.S. Virgin Islands using NASA's New Generation Landsat 8 OLI Satellite Sensor
Abstract
Coral reefs represent the most diverse ecosystem of the ocean but are also fragile, partly because of their sensitivity to changes in their physical environment, specifically water quality. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, coral reefs are threatened by an increasing array of impacts including land based pollution. Current methods employed to study coral communities and their physical environment (water quality) are primarily through the use of in-situ line intercepts and the analysis of water samples collected at point locations. These methods are labor intensive, costly and lack the spatial and temporal coverage needed to both understand change in such a highly dynamic environment. Remote sensing technology provides more timely and spatially explicit information once the data is calibrated. The objective of this research was to develop a regionally calibrated satellite based algorithm to characterize the phytoplankton density (using chlorophyll as an index). Band ratio based modeling using NASA's Landsat OLI sensor data produced an algorithm that can explain the phytoplankton variability observed near the coastal water of the USVI with R2of 0.66 and RMSE of 0.04. These results are promising and can improve long term water quality monitoring in St. Thomas and St. John, providing insights on coral reef decline due to urbanization and acute disturbance events like hurricanes.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.H33I2214K
- Keywords:
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- 1836 Hydrological cycles and budgets;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 1840 Hydrometeorology;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 1848 Monitoring networks;
- HYDROLOGYDE: 1855 Remote sensing;
- HYDROLOGY