Barbara Van Mol

Development and application of an algorithm for detecting Phaeocystis globosa blooms in the Case 2 Southern North Sea waters

While mapping algal blooms from space is now well-established, mapping undesirable algal blooms in eutrophicated coastal waters raises further challenge in detecting individual phytoplankton species. In this paper, an algorithm is developed and tested for detecting Phaeocystis globosa blooms in the Southern North Sea. For this purpose, we first measured the light absorption properties of two phytoplankton groups, P. globosa and diatoms, in laboratory-controlled experiments. The main spectral difference between both groups was observed at 467 nm due to the absorption of the pigment chlorophyll c3 only present in P. globosa, suggesting that the absorption at 467 nm can be used to detect this alga in the field. A Phaeocystis-detection algorithm is proposed to retrieve chlorophyll c3 using either total absorption or water-leaving reflectance field data. Application of this algorithm to absorption and reflectance data from Phaeocystis-dominated natural communities shows positive results. Comparison with pigment concentrations and cell counts suggests that the algorithm can flag the presence of P. globosa and provide quantitative information above a chlorophyll c3 threshold of 0.3 mg m−3 equivalent to a P. globosa cell density of 3 × 106 cells L−1. Finally, the possibility of extrapolating this information to remote sensing reflectance data in these turbid waters is evaluated.

Optical properties of algal blooms in an eutrophicated coastal area and its relevance to remote sensing

The Southern Bight of the North Sea is characterised by a large influence of river inputs, which results in eutrophication of the area. High concentrations of plankton biomass and suspended matter have been reported for this area, in relation with blooms of different species and resuspension of bottom sediments. In spring the haptophyte Phaeocystis globosa blooms throughout the area reaching up to 30 mg Chlorophyll m-3 or more nearshore. This event is followed in June by red tides of the dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans. These blooms are concurrent with different species of diatoms. The strong optical signature of these blooms is clear to human observers making them potentially detectable in satellite imagery. As a first step in this direction, sampling has been carried out in the area, during Phaeocystis and Noctiluca blooms in 2003 and 2004. Phytoplankton pigments and inherent optical properties (particle, detrital and phytoplankton absorption) have been measured spectrophotometrically, and in situ using an ac-9 for total absorption and particle scattering. Field data were compared with optical properties of pure species obtained in laboratory. In parallel, water-leaving reflectance has been also measured. In this paper we characterise the optical signatures of diatoms, Phaeocystis and Noctiluca and their contribution to total absorption. The impact on water-leaving reflectance spectra is evaluated; in order to assess the conditions in which remote sensing can provide information for monitoring the timing, extent and magnitude of blooms in this coastal area.

Use of the near infrared similarity reflectance spectrum for the quality control of remote sensing data

The shape of water-leaving reflectance spectra in the near infrared range 700-900nm is almost invariant for turbid waters and has been analysed and tabulated as a similarity spectrum by normalisation at 780nm. This similarity spectrum is used here for the quality control of seaborne reflectance measurements and for the improvement of sky glint correction. Estimates of the reflectance measurement error associated with imperfect sky glint correction from two different wavelength pairs are shown to be nearly identical. A demonstration of residual reflectance correction for data collected in cloudy, high wave conditions has shown that this correction removes a large source of variability associated with temporal variation of the wave field. The error estimate applied here to seaborne measurements has wide-ranging generality and is appropriate for any water-leaving reflectance spectra derived from seaborne, airborne or satellite borne sensors provided suitable near infrared bands are available.