Remote Sensing
Remote sensing uses instruments mounted on aircraft, satellites, buoys, and towed bodies to measure key properties of the estuary with much-improved resolution compared to traditional approaches. This approach provides data and information on chlorophyll, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, plankton abundance, and meteorological variables — all important factors in assessing the health of the Bay.Maryland Sea Grant began a partnership with NASA, NOAA, and NSF in the late 1980s to use new technologies to study the Bay. Several programs — the Chesapeake Bay Remote Sensing Program (CBRSP), the Chesapeake Bay Observing System (CBOS), and the NSF Land-Margin Ecosystem Research Trophic Interactions in Estuarine Systems (TIES) program — have provided data at time and space resolutions that are unattainable with shipboard measurements alone.
CBRSP, led by Dr. Larry Harding of Maryland Sea Grant and Horn Point Laboratory, has acquired chlorophyll and sea surface temperature data on more than 400 aircraft flights over its 18-year span. Chlorophyll is a photosynthetic pigment found in all plants, including phytoplankton — the main primary producers of the Bay. By measuring "ocean color" researchers can ascertain the water's concentration of chlorophyll and ultimately the amount of primary productivity.
CBOS, led by Dr. Bill Boicourt of Horn Point Laboratory, makes data collected from instrumented buoys in the Bay available in real-time via the internet. Users can access data on temperature, salinity, winds, and humidity from eight different points throughout the Bay. Towed bodies, exemplified by the ScanFish used by Drs. Mike Roman and Bill Boicourt of the TIES program, carry a number of instruments to collect data on the distributions of physical, chemical, and biological attributes of the ecosystem.
Data and information from all of these remote sensing programs aid managers in gauging progress in improving water quality of the Bay.
Publications and Related Links
- Estuarine and Watershed Monitoring Using Remote Sensing Technology: Present Status and Future Trends (September 2004, UM-SG-TS-1004-03). Report from the January 7-8, 2002, workshop sponsored by the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee and Maryland Sea Grant College.
The following PDFs are available:
- Complete workshop report (~4.2 MB)
- Part 1 (~710 KB) Cover, Table of Contents, Executive Summary, Recommendations, Introduction & Management Considerations
- Part 2 (~1.9 MB) Panel Summary Overview & Panel One: The Potential Use of In-situ Water Quality Measurements
- Part 3 (~770 KB) Panel Two: Airborne/Satellite Measurements of Water Quality
- Part 4 (~1.1 MB) Panel Three: Remote Sensing of Land Use/Land Cover in the Watershed
- Part 5 (~115 KB) Working Groups, Recommendation Steps. Postscript, Workshop Agenda & Workshop Participants
- Complete workshop report (~4.2 MB)
