Bio-Optical Properties near a Coastal Convergence Zone Derived from Aircraft Remote Sensing Imagery and Modeling

Abstract

Bio-optical and physical measurements were collected in the Mississippi Sound (Northern Gulf of Mexico) during the spring of 2018 as part of the Integrated Coastal Bio-Optical Dynamics project. The goal was to examine the impact of atmospheric and tidal fronts on fine-scale physical and bio-optical property distributions in a shallow, dynamic, coastal environment. During a 25-day experiment, eight moorings were deployed in the vicinity of a frontal zone. For a one-week period in the middle of the mooring deployment, focused ship sampling was conducted with aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicle overflights, acquiring hyperspectral optical and thermal data. The personnel in the aircraft located visible color fronts indicating the convergence of two water masses and directed the ship to the front. Dye releases were performed on opposite sides of a front, and coincident aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicle overflights were collected to facilitate visualization of advection/mixing/dispersion processes. Radiometric calibration of the optical hyperspectral sensor was performed. Empirical Line Calibration was also performed to atmospherically correct the aircraft imagery using in situ remote sensing reflectance measurements as calibration sources. Bio-optical properties were subsequently derived from the atmospherically corrected aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicle imagery using the Naval Research Laboratory Automated Processing System.