The plume of the Rhone: numerical simulation and remote sensing

Estournel, Claude; Kondrachoff, Veronique; Marsaleix, Patrick; Véhil, Raoul

doi:10.1016/s0278-4343(96)00064-7

Cited by 106 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The surface plume shows morphological fluctuations, mainly in terms of orientation and offshore extent, depending on wind, freshwater discharge and large-scale circulation conditions [22][23][24]. Thereby, under a constant NW wind, the plume tends to be pushed offshore; by opposition, onshore winds direct the plume towards the coast.…”

Section: Study Area and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Rhône River plume dynamics are typical of low tidal amplitude waters but can show strong hourly to monthly fluctuations in terms of SPM concentration, plume extent and orientation (e.g., [8,[22][23][24]. The last step in the present study is to assess the potential of OLI, MODIS and SEVIRI satellite data to capture these SPM spatio-temporal dynamics in the river plume, i.e., to test their capabilities in terms of temporal resolution to (1) estimate the variations of the flux of SPM at the river mouth and (2) observe the transport of SPM in the river plume.…”

Section: Impact Of Satellite Sensor Temporal Resolution On the Monitomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Rhône River plume is typical of moderately turbid waters, featured by a strong cross-shore gradient (typically from 40 g¨m´3 to 1 g¨m´3 or below), whose dynamics are mainly driven by winds and currents (e.g., [22][23][24]. This area is thus well-adapted to test sensors' capabilities in a micro-tidal coastal environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Potential of High Spatial and Temporal Ocean Color Satellite Data to Study the Dynamics of Suspended Particles in a Micro-Tidal River Plume

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ocean color satellite sensors are powerful tools to study and monitor the dynamics of suspended particulate matter (SPM) discharged by rivers in coastal waters. In this study, we test the capabilities of Landsat-8/Operational Land Imager (OLI), AQUA&TERRA/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and MSG-3/Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) sensors in terms of spectral, spatial and temporal resolutions to (i) estimate the seawater reflectance signal and then SPM concentrations and (ii) monitor the dynamics of SPM in the Rhône River plume characterized by moderately turbid surface waters in a micro-tidal sea. Consistent remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) values are retrieved in the red spectral bands of these four satellite sensors (median relative difference less than~16% in turbid waters). By applying a regional algorithm developed from in situ data, these Rrs are used to estimate SPM concentrations in the Rhône river plume. The spatial resolution of OLI provides a detailed mapping of the SPM concentration from the downstream part of the river itself to the plume offshore limits with well defined small-scale turbidity features. Despite the low temporal resolution of OLI, this should allow to better understand the transport of terrestrial particles from rivers to the coastal ocean. These details are partly lost using MODIS coarser resolutions data but SPM concentration estimations are consistent, with an accuracy of about 1 to 3 g¨m´3 in the river mouth and plume for spatial resolutions from 250 m to 1 km. The MODIS temporal resolution (2 images per day) allows to capture the daily to monthly dynamics of the river plume. However, despite its micro-tidal environment, the Rhône River plume shows significant short-term (hourly) variations, mainly controlled by wind and regional circulation, that MODIS temporal resolution failed to capture. On the contrary, the high temporal resolution of SEVIRI makes it a powerful tool to study this hourly river plume dynamics. However, its coarse resolution prevents the monitoring of SPM concentration variations in the river mouth where SPM concentration variability can reach 20 g¨m´3 inside the SEVIRI pixel. Its spatial resolution is nevertheless sufficient to reproduce the plume shape and retrieve SPM concentrations in a valid range, taking into account an underestimation of about 15%-20% based on comparisons with other sensors and in situ data. Finally, the capabilities, advantages and limits of these satellite sensors are discussed in the light of the spatial and temporal resolution improvements provided by the new and future generation

show abstract

Section: Study Area and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impact Of Satellite Sensor Temporal Resolution On the Monitomentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Potential of High Spatial and Temporal Ocean Color Satellite Data to Study the Dynamics of Suspended Particles in a Micro-Tidal River Plume

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Extensive studies about recent processes, sedimentation and circulation in the GoL, in particular related to the Grand Rhône river delta sediments have also 2 been published in the last years (Marty et al, 2001;Beaudouin et al, 2004;Petrenko et al, 2005;Estournel et al, 1997Estournel et al, , 2001Radakovitch et al, 1999;Thill et al, 2001). In the present paper we discuss the occurrence of shallow gas evidences in the recent sediments off the Grand Rhône prodelta.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…The north-west sector winds, induced by a ridge of high pressure over the nearby Atlantic, blow intensively every other day throughout the year, encouraging the formation of coastal upwellings along the north coast (Estournel et al, 1997). The most intense cold water upwelling occurs specifically in front of the area where the Grand Rhône river plume is most likely to flow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shallow gas off the Rhône prodelta, Gulf of Lions

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In areas unaffected by the high flux of organic matter and rapid/thick flood deposition, or in between flood events, the conditions for methanogenesis and gas accumulation have not been met. In these areas, the physical and biological reworking of the surficial sediment may effectively oxidize and mineralize organic matter and limit bacterial methanogenesis in the subsurface. We propose that in the Rhône prodelta flood deposits deliver significant amounts of terrigenous 1 organic matter that can be rapidly buried, effectively removing this organic matter from aerobic oxidation and biological uptake, and leading to the potential for methanogenesis with burial.

show abstract

Application of Landsat imagery, to verify near shore water circulation of Saronikos gulf, as resulted from numerical modelling

Zacharias

Fakiris

2005

Appl. Num. Anal. Comp. Math.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hydrodynamic numerical models nowadays offer great aid when studying the physical behavior of coastal waters. However, the calibration and furthermore the verification of such models, is a difficult process that should be applied carefully, especially when little direct hydrodynamic data has been collected from the study area. This paper suggests a methodology for indirect verification of mathematical coastal circulation models, by means of image processing and interpretation of Landsat's TM reflective bands 3 and 6 imagery. This approach is an efficient practice and is easily available even though no field survey was carried out. This method was successfully applied to Saronikos Gulf and in particular to gulf of Megara, located westwards of Salamis Island, where the dispersion of a plume formed by urban waste waters was examined. The satellite data processing derivatives were found to be in accordance with the results of the circulation simulation and thus the parameters used for the calibration of the model can be considered successfully selected.

show abstract

The plume of the Rhone: numerical simulation and remote sensing

Cited by 106 publications

References 31 publications

Potential of High Spatial and Temporal Ocean Color Satellite Data to Study the Dynamics of Suspended Particles in a Micro-Tidal River Plume

Potential of High Spatial and Temporal Ocean Color Satellite Data to Study the Dynamics of Suspended Particles in a Micro-Tidal River Plume

Shallow gas off the Rhône prodelta, Gulf of Lions

Application of Landsat imagery, to verify near shore water circulation of Saronikos gulf, as resulted from numerical modelling

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About