Estuary Variance Map for In Situ Sample Station Placement
Investigators: Bruce Spiering (NASA/Stennis)
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Abstract
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The Gulf of Mexico Alliance has developed a Governors Action Plan for the five Gulf of Mexico states
to address coastal, ecological, and societal issues. An element of that plan is to develop EPA mandated
nutrient criteria for the estuaries around the Gulf of Mexico.
Estuaries are very complex and dynamic ecosystems and physical sampling activities can be
very expensive for state agencies with limited resources. To aid in the determination
of the type and quantity of monitoring stations and to determine their most effective placement,
a variance mapping tool will be developed from a time series of NASA MODIS data products,
specifically the MODIS MOD09 product.
The MOD09 product consists of the two atmospherically corrected MODIS 250m bands.
There have been numerous published studies demonstrating MODIS band 1 (645 nm) has a strong
correlation with suspended particles, including phytoplankton. Absorption and scattering by
suspended particles, phytoplankton and CDOM all contribute to the water clarity in an estuary
and their spatial and temporal distribution within an estuary can be an indicator of dynamic processes
affecting eutrophication.
In this study a variance map will be created for Mobile Bay and the Mississippi Sound.
This map will help determine the optimal type and quantity of monitoring stations and to determine
their most effective placement. These water bodies have been chosen because there are several recent
and current in situ sampling efforts. The variability map will be developed as an add-on to existing
software developed by NASA at Stennis Space Center, the Time Series Product Toolkit.
If successful, the resulting variability maps will be uploadable to the Coastal On-line Assessment
and Synthesis Tool (COAST) for access by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
The MDEQ is currently planning a pilot project to set nutrient criteria for at least one Mississippi estuary.
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NASA Products
MODIS MOD09, NASA Time Series Product Toolkit
Project Partners
EPA, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)
Decision Support Tools
Coastal On-line Assessment and Synthesis Tool (COAST)
Reports
