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THE DETERMINATION OF WATER CLARITY IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND ESTUARIES USING MULTISPECTRAL IN SITU AIRCRAFT REMOTE SENSING AND THE EPA NATIONAL COASTAL ASSESSMENT (NCA) PROGRAM GUIDELINES
Citation:
KEITH, D. J. AND J. A. KIDDON. THE DETERMINATION OF WATER CLARITY IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND ESTUARIES USING MULTISPECTRAL IN SITU AIRCRAFT REMOTE SENSING AND THE EPA NATIONAL COASTAL ASSESSMENT (NCA) PROGRAM GUIDELINES. Presented at AGU/ASLO/TSO Ocean Sciences Meeting, Honolulu, HI, February 20 - 24, 2006.
Description:
Water clarity, an environmental indicator of estuary condition, is affected by the accumulation of nutrients, organic matter, plant pigments, sediments, and embayment flushing characteristics. In this study, we assess water clarity along the southern New England coast using aircraft derived multispectral data and the attenuation of photosynthetically available radiation (KPAR) using a regional algorithm.
Using data from previous surveys, we derived KPAR and remotely sensed reflectances (Rrs) from in situ multispectral systems from the passages of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island and Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Using the neural network approach, we used these datasets to optimize the relationship between KPAR and Rrs. Water clarity along the southern New England coast was estimated from KPAR derived from aircraft multispectral Rrs data collected from 25 estuaries during May - October 2002, June 2003, and March u October 2005. During each aerial survey, the percent attenuation of PAR at 1 meter depth was estimated. The percent PAR at 1 meter depth is used by the USEPA/NCA Program as a proxy indicator of condition for estuarine systems.