Advancing Applications of Remote Sensing for Detection of and Long-Term Monitoring of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)

Abstract

Remote sensing has been used to monitor algal blooms for decades initially focused on ocean color with ever increasing spatial, temporal and spectral resolution. In addition, complementary observations with different modalities have become practical, ranging from very high-resolution, sub-daily visible images to revisits by SAR every few days. These long-term collections have enabled monitoring of algal blooms that are relatively persistent over larger areas. Despite these improvements, open challenges remain for characterizing transient, small-scale blooms due to limited image resolution and/or orbit geometry. Additionally, there is a lack of information concerning the spectral signature of specific algal species that can be captured by multi-band imagers. This session will focus on innovative methods to address these challenges such as higher resolution observing systems, combining data from multiple modalities and platforms, improving calibration of extant observations with surface-based measurements and novel techniques for post-processing of observations (e.g., via machine learning).