This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 7150, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, and the Conference and Symposium Committees listing.

The paper introduces the current status and future plan of marine environmental remote sensing in China. In the first part, the status is displayed, including the progress on key techniques of ocean color remote sensing, such as algorithms of atmospheric correction, water optical properties, regional algorithms of ocean color factors; satellite data receiving, process and application system as well as airborne system; new application for marine environment, such as coastal water quality monitoring and red tide (harmful algal bloom). In the second part, future plan in China is discussed, including satellite mission for marine environmental monitoring, satellite data validation and calibration, and the application techniques.

China had successfully launched her second ocean color satellite HY-1B on 11 Apr., 2007, which was the successor of the HY-1A satellite launched on 15 May, 2002. There were two sensors onboard HY-1B, named the Chinese Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (COCTS) and the Coastal Zone Imager (CZI) respectively, and COCTS was the main sensor. COCTS had not only eight visible and near-infrared wave bands similar to the SeaWiFS, but also two more thermal infrared wave bands to measure the sea surface temperature. Therefore, COCTS had broad application potentiality, such as fishery resource protection and development, coastal monitoring and management and marine pollution monitoring. In this paper, the main characteristics of COCTS were described firstly. Then, using the crosscalibration method, the vicarious calibration of COCTS was carried out by the synchronous remote sensing data of SeaWiFS, and the results showed that COCTS had well linear responses for the visible light bands with the correlation coefficients more than 0.98, however, the performances of the near infrared wavelength bands were not good as visible light bands. Using the vicarious calibration result, the operational atmospheric correction (AC) algorithm of COCTS was developed based on the exact Rayleigh scattering look-up table (LUT), aerosol scattering LUT and atmosphere diffuse transmission LUT generated by the coupled ocean-atmospheric vector radiative transfer numerical model named PCOART. The AC algorithm had been validated by the simulated radiance data at the top-of-atmosphere, and the results showed the errors of the water-leaving reflectance retrieved by the AC algorithm were less than 0.0005, which met the requirement of the exactly atmospheric correction of ocean color remote sensing. Finally, the AC algorithm was applied to the HY-1B/COCTS remote sensing data, and the corresponding ocean color remote sensing products have been generated.

Sea surface reflection, such as sunglint and white cap, causes significant error in the ocean color estimation. Current algorithms include statistical correction using lower-resolution wind speed data. However, we cannot use the scheme in the coastal area due to variable winds and air-sea stability caused by the coastal geographical structure. Linear combination technique which was proposed by Frouin et al. can estimate chlorophyll-a concentration even in high sunglint and whitecap areas. That indicates sunglint error of ocean-color imagery can/should be corrected using multispectral channels not using ancillary wind fields. We tried to correct sunglint using near infrared and shortwave infrared (2.1µm) channels. The correction improved estimation of water leaving reflectance and chlorophyll-a concentration, however, we still need additional information to estimate proper aerosol and sunglint simultaneously.

A new methodology is proposed to estimate from space the solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence of natural waters. The methodology exploits absorption in the oxygen B-band around 687 nm, located near the peak of fluorescence emission at 685 nm. Inside the oxygen absorption lines, the fluorescence signal enhances the reflected solar radiance. By using a pair of spectral bands inside and outside the absorption region, or more generally spectral bands for which oxygen absorption is sufficiently different, the emitted contribution to the measured radiance can be extracted. Feasibility is demonstrated and retrieval accuracy quantified through simulations of the top-of-atmosphere reflectance by a radiation transfer code that fully accounts for multiple scattering and interactions between scattering and absorption. The differential absorption method works well from just above the surface. Pairs of spectral bands centered on the same wavelength provide the best results. Using spectral bands of 686.8-688.3 nm and 683.1-692.0 nm, the expected accuracy on fluorescence retrievals is <10% for chlorophyll concentrations above 1 mgm-3. Performance is degraded from space, due to the influence of aerosol vertical structure on the oxygen transmittance associated with path reflectance. In this case, knowledge of aerosol reflectance and optical thickness is required, but assuming an average aerosol vertical distribution yields reasonable results. In comparison with the standard baseline technique, significant improvements in retrieval accuracy are expected in Case II waters, especially in the presence of sediments.

Measurement of ocean surface salinity dynamics from space poses numerous engineering and scientific challenges that push the boundaries of ocean remote sensing capabilities. The principles of measuring sea surface salinity (SSS) from space are well established. They involve precise determination of the dielectric characteristics of seawater through lownoise passive microwave (MW) radiometer measurement of the ocean's brightness temperature (TB), optimally performed at a low frequency near 1.4 GHz (L-band). Sea surface salinity from space clearly presents new challenges because science requirements impose the need for resolution of the order of 0.1 psu (practical salinity units). This requirement means that competing terms carried in the ocean TB measurements, foremost being sea surface temperature (SST) and ocean surface roughness, must be accounted for in a new and more robust manner. To reach this aim, we developed consistent forward electromagnetic/geophysical models for the expected surface roughness and foam emissivity signatures [1] at L-band. We also provided models to correct for sunglint [2] and galactic radiation [3] scattered towards the future SMOS sensor. Finally, we have defined the Auxiliary data processing for SMOS, including the processing to get the key SST and wind fields needed for the salinity retrieval [4]. Prior to launch, airborne field measurement efforts are currently on going to perform algorithm validation exercises. Here, we present results from the ESA airborne Campaign CoSMOS, performed in the North Sea in April 2006. This campaign was conducted to help to clarify and bound the limits of uncertainty for the geophysical factors affecting sea surface emissivity at L-band, in order to develop successful salinity inversion algorithms.

Coastal areas of the China Seas are typical the so called case II waters or turbid waters, the retrieval and validation of the ocean color satellites' data in the China Seas have become one of the most difficult field in the ocean color remote sensing community. In this study, the semi-analytical (SA) algorithm for optically shallow water developed by Lee et al. is tuned for the China Seas using numerical simulation technique of the radiative transfer equation based on the field investigation data (China Joint Global Ocean Flux Study, JGOFS and some unpublished data) and literature of the China Seas. It is found that the tuned SA algorithm for the China Seas is better than that of Gordon et al. and Lee et al., the applicability of the tuned SA algorithm is improved in the China Sea. The percentage error between the retrieved chlorophyll concentration by the tuned SA algorithm for the China Seas and the in-situ data is about 28% using the field campaign data in the East China Sea in 1998.

The results and methods obtained in one round-the world sea expedition and several north-western Pacific expeditions are presented. Measurements of hydrological and bio-optical parameters of seawater were carried out. It was used method of ship-borne laser-induced fluorescence realized in flowing variant which allow to conduct measurements during ship movement. In some expeditions in-depth fluorescence measurements were obtained with the help of fiber add-on device and in some cases two excitation wavelengths were used (355 and 532 nm). Dissolved organic matter (DOM) fluorescence - chlorophyll-a fluorescence scattering diagrams were investigated in various seawater areas of Oceans in different algae development stage. Procedure of phytoplankton communities characterization were offered, it is based on the data of hydrological measurements and on the parameters of linear regression between chlorophyll-a and DOM fluorescence. It was shown that significant linear correlation between chlorophyll-a fluorescence and DOM fluorescence induced by 532 nm Nd:YAG laser radiation generally observed during algae blooming and for all waters with chlorophyll-a concentration upper then 5 ug/l. The procedure can be used for flowing fluorometers or LIDAR fluorometers which allow to conduct measurements from moving carrier with spatial resolution better then 500 m.

The spectral diffuse attenuation coefficients of downward irradiance (Kd) and upward radiance (Ku) are calculated from a profiler spectrometer measured data. Both Kd and Ku are the parameters of apparent optical properties (AOP) and need to be normalized according to the position of the Sun and sky conditions. Three kinds of sky indices are used to indicate the atmospheric conditions of clear, overcast and partly cloudy at the time of measurements. The values of normalized Kd can be compared with the sums of total absorption and backscattering coefficients. The total values from both measured data and the models fit the normalized Kd with the correlation coefficients of 0.85 and 0.81, respectively. The accuracy of Kd is also evaluated by the spectral root mean square error (RMSE) less than 0.15 m^-1 in the spectral range from 450 to 700 nm.

Monitoring of coral reef environments require accurate, timely and relevant information on their composition and condition. These environments are challenging to map due to their variation in reef type, remoteness, extent, benthic cover composition and variable water clarities. This work evaluates the accuracy, cost and relevance of eight commonly used benthic cover mapping approaches applied in three different coral reef environments in Fiji. The eight mapping techniques varied in field data source (local knowledge, point and transect surveys), image data (Quickbird 2 and Landsat 5 TM), level of image correction (none or atmospheric) and processing approaches (delineation and supervised classification). The eight mapping approaches were assessed in terms of their: map accuracy; production time and cost. Qualitative assessment was carried out by map users representing the local marine monitoring agencies. These map assessments showed that users and producers preferred mapping approaches based on: supervised classification of Quickbird imagery integrated with a basic field data. This approach produced an accurate map within a short time; with low cost that suited the user's purpose. The findings from this work demonstrate how variations in coral reef environments, and map purpose and resources management requirements affected the user's selection of a suitable mapping approach.

Coral reefs are complex marine ecosystems that are constructed and maintained by biological communities that thrive in tropical oceans. The Dong-Sha Atoll is located at the northern continental margin of the South China Sea. It has being abused by destructive activity of human being and natural event during recent decades. Remote sensing offers a powerful tool for studying coral reef geomorphology and is the most cost-effective approach for large-scale reef survey. In this paper, the high-resolution Quickbird2 imageries which covered the full atoll are used to categorize the current distribution of coral reefs geomorphological structure therein with the auxiliary SPOT5 and ASTER imageries. Spectral and texture analysis are used to distinguish the geomorphological diversity during data processing. The Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrices is adopted for texture feature extraction and atoll geomorphology mapping in the high-resolution pan-color image of Quickbird2. Quickbird2 is considered as the most appropriate image source for coral reefs studies. In the Dong-Sha Atoll, various dynamical geomorphologic units are developed according to wave energy zones. There the reef frame types are classified to 3 different types according as its diversity at the image. The radial structure system is the most characteristic and from high resolution imagery we can distinguish the discrepancy between them.

Digital Holography is a technique which provides a measurement of the complex field reflecting from a coherently illuminated object. When the measurement is performed with two carefully chosen wavelengths a phase difference map can be created providing a three dimensional map of the object. We present results from a laboratory experiment where the surface contours of coral are measured in seawater. Contour maps with step sizes on the order of 0.1 mm can easily be obtained. We propose that this technique be used to remotely monitor the growth of coral in an effort to quantify the health of coral beds. The technique is effective from space, aircraft, ships, buoys or rigid platforms such as a pier. In the last few years we have been successfully using this technique to measure objects through very turbulent atmosphere at ranges of up to 700 meters and we are now applying the concept to shoreline applications.

About 7 million people in India are dependent on fishing activity for their livelihood. A reliable and timely short-term forecast on the fish aggregation zones helps them. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) provides short term forecasts using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) Techniques. Satellite derived Chlorophyll and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) information are the basic inputs for generating this information. Features such as oceanic fronts, meandering patterns, eddies, rings and up-welling areas are identified from the satellite images, transferred to navigational charts and provided as PFZ advisories. This paper describes the advantages resulted due to the usage of PFZ advisories that are disseminated to the fishing community of India. A quantitative analysis of the benefits in terms of net profit fetched due to the reduction in searching time and higher catch and percentage of success in the fishing operations carried out within PFZ and outside PFZ areas is presented.

SeaWiFS RCA-Chl along with sea surface height variations/geostrophic currents, sea surface temperature, wind speed/direction and field observation data, are used to first describe comprehensively the occurrences of various hazardous algal blooms (HABs) and their underlying mechanisms and link to nutrient enrichment during the summer in shelf-slope waters off the Northwest Pacific (NWP). These datasets provide a coherent view of the summertime evolution of HABs and related physical processes in four common dynamic regions: coastal cold/estuary water zones, upwelling zones next to the coast, repeated meanders/eddies, and frontal regimes induced by the Kuroshio and its tributaries. High blooms coincided with the coastal upwelling and cyclonic eddy regimes that followed SST minimum and large negative SSH along with favorable phase of winds. By contrast, relatively low mean RCA were consistent with the fronts and anticyclonic meanders revealing moderate-high SSH fields along with variable winds blown off the NWP coast. These anticyclonic meanders, on some occasions, when nutrient-containing coastal water setoff higher chlorophyll biomass and major currents gained force in August, straddled the continental margin, entraining high chlorophyll water from the coast and from the adjacent cyclonic eddies located nearby into their outer rings that formed a conveyer-belt system of transport to inject coastal blooms into the deep-sea (e.g., East Sea) region of the NWP. The above findings based on satellite data combined with field hydrographic/ bloom observation data evidently illustrated richness of the response of summer HABs to the surface circulation and nutrient enrichment processes in shelf-slope waters off the NWP coast.

Ship detection from remote sensing imagery is a crucial application for maritime security which includes among others traffic surveillance, protection against illegal fisheries, oil discharge control and sea pollution monitoring. In the framework of a European integrated project GMES-Security/LIMES, we developed an operational ship detection algorithm using high spatial resolution optical imagery to complement existing regulations, in particular the fishing control system. The automatic detection model is based on statistical methods, mathematical morphology and other signal processing techniques such as the wavelet analysis and Radon transform. This paper presents current progress made on the detection model and describes the prototype designed to classify small targets. The prototype was tested on panchromatic SPOT 5 imagery taking into account the environmental and fishing context in French Guiana. In terms of automatic detection of small ship targets, the proposed algorithm performs well. Its advantages are manifold: it is simple and robust, but most of all, it is efficient and fast, which is a crucial point in performance evaluation of advanced ship detection strategies.

The MODIS - Aqua high-resolution imagery were exploited to detect and monitor oil spills. An evaluation criterion has been established to study its potential. The study focused on two oil spill events: Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela (January 18-20, 2003) and Jiyeh power station oil spill, Lebanon (July 15-31, 2006). The images were examined at level-1B (only geometrically corrected) and level-2 (geometrically and atmospherically corrected) data processing levels. The level-2 data lacked the sufficient contrast range, because of the rigorous atmospheric correction, while the level-1B data were found to be suitable. The 250-m data at 645 and 859 nm and 500-m, interpolated to 250-m, at 469, 555, 1240, and 2130 nm were analyzed. The methodology included examination of individual bands and evaluation of 30 band ratioing combinations to improve the contrast of oil spills in the images. The evaluation criteria were based on both visual and parametric. The metrics involved are: mean contrast function and feature matching. In addition, bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) at 469, 555, and 645 nm wavelengths, were also evaluated using the same criteria. The study found that at appropriate view-angle, MODIS-Aqua high-resolution is suitable for oil spill detection at 250-m band. When the view-angle is not appropriate, the combination of mid-IR bands with shorter wavelengths improved the feature matching.

Qinshan Nuclear Power Station is located in the Haiyan County of Zhejiang Province in east China. The warm water from their cooling systems is discharged into the Hangzhou Bay directly which will affect the ecosystem of coastal area in the bay. To study the influence of warming effect from the thermal discharge of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Station Phase2 and Phase3, the remote sensing image of the marine airborne multi-spectrum scanner (MAMS), the numerical modeling based COHERENS (A coupled Hydrodynamical Ecological Model for Regional Shelf seas) and shipboard water column measurements are all applied to explore the spatial and temporal distribution of the warm water. In order to get accurate boundary conditions, a larger area was simulated firstly to provide hydrodynamic parameter for the modeling area in the numerical simulation. From the remote sensing image, the numerical simulation and field observations, we can conclude that the thermal effluent from the Qinshan Phase2 and Phase3 cooling systems just influences coastal water on a small scale.

A correct urban and land-use planning can be supported by several innovative tools and methodologies. In this paper the potential of remote sensing and GIS technologies have been emphasized. The proposed methodology has been applied to the River Pescara Valley, considered as the appropriate coverage to define environmental features that influence the industrial areas. For this research MIVIS hyperspectral (at a 1500 and 3000 m elevation) images have been used. The obtained images have been georeferenced. From the processing and classification of these images some information layer have been obtained: thematic maps of land-use (industrial areas identification), vegetation conditions, thermal pollution, quality parameters (temperature, organic matter, chlorophyll, sediments) for river and sea waters. Thematic maps obtained from remote sensing have been inserted in a GIS, that means a system to insert, store, integrate, extract, retrieve, manipulate and analyze georeferenced data layers in order to produce interpretable information. Then the data base has been integrated with further information inserted as continuous layers; thematic layers; vector layers; punctual data; attributes. Some specific operators have been applied that allowed to integrate the information contents and therefore to obtain final thematic maps (environmental quality maps, vulnerability and risk maps, visualization of models related to accidental events). The innovative technologies proposed facilitate and optimize the duties required from actual regulations, as for a recent Italian regulation aimed to the verification and research of compatibility of major hazard industrial plants with land-use and environment. Therefore it is useful to develop methodologies supporting industry and Competent Authorities.

The management of small Pacific coastal territories has become a crucial issue; these are insular units that often display a high level of biodiversity in a context of changing climate and sea-level rise. In order to preserve and protect populations, infrastructure and living resources, there is a need to understand inland processes that may influence the behaviour of coastal systems and, more particularly, active erosion zones. Cartography of stripped surfaces by remote sensing has become routine and we propose here the first step of a method that aims to monitor erosion features using an automated process. Managing catastrophic erosion and/or landslides needs high frequency image acquisition so as to optimize hazard prevention. On the basis of a single remote sensing map, we propose a generic method for automatically assigning expert-designed labels to erosion areas. Our automated process follows three steps: first, we use classical algorithms to detect stripped zones; second, we assign a label to each extracted zone using domain knowledge. Finally, as a post-processing phase, detected and labelled erosion areas are checked by experts. This method has been validated in an erosion-sensitive area of south-eastern New Caledonia.

Laccadive archipelago comprises of 1232 islands, 1196 in Maldives (Indian Ocean) and 36 in Lakshadweep (Arabian Sea). A total 210 islands (200 in Maldives and 10 in Lakshadweep) are inhabited with a population of about 300,000 and 60,000, respectively. These islands harbour various ecologically sensitive marine habitats (ESMH) of economic and socioeconomic values and of dynamic and productive nature. The biotic constituents of these habitats form roots and major contributors towards productivity stabilization and land formation. However, the existence of these ecologically sensitive regions, and hence of these islands are at risk from various environmental and climatic change issues. Considering the ecological importance and vulnerability to various problems, 'effective management' of these ecosystems must be a top priority and of a global concern. Remote sensing (RS) and GIS tools would be of a great use in the evaluation and formulation of strategies for their sustainable management. The paper describes different ecologically sensitive marine habitats (ESMH) from selected islands of Maldives and Lakshadweep, and application of RS and GIS for their evaluation, monitoring and management.

The present study is concerned with the development and test of an integrated remote sensing and GIS based methodology for identification of groundwater potential areas in a humid tropical river basin. Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS 1C-LISS-III) data along with other collateral data such as existing maps and field observations was utilized to extract information on the hydro-geomorphic features of the terrain. The study involves two components: (a) demarcation of groundwater potential zones (b) validation of sites with yield data. In order to demarcate potential groundwater zones, six pertinent thematic layers were integrated and assigned appropriate rankings. Layers considered were: geology, geomorphology, drainage density, slope, rainfall with infiltration factor and land cover map. The layer parameters were also rated according to their importance relative to other classes in the same theme. All the layers were superimposed and analyzed in ARC GIS environment. A linear additive model based on the DRASTIC model concept was used to find the groundwater potential index (GPI). The map comprised of six categories of groundwater yield. To carry out more focused investigations on the potential zones, lineament maps were superimposed over it. The validity of different potential zones identified using the GIS-based model was compared with available borewell yield data and found to be in good agreement. The map generated can be used in future as a preliminary screening tool in selecting well sites and as a basic tool in land use planning for groundwater protection.

India has made remarkable progress in creating a modern and diversified industrial base, since its independence. Most of the refineries, petrochemical and fertilizer industries are located in the coastal zone and catered by 12 major ports along the 7500 km length of Indian coastline. Since, transportation of crude oil and POL products from ports to refineries are mostly by pipelines, rail/ road, besides some quantity by barge/ ships along the coast, there will be chances of oil spill/leakage. Managing these events before and during their occurrence is imperative to the protection of people and natural resources. The present study was carried out with a view to develop Terrestrial Chemical Spill Information System [TCSIS], using Remote Sensing [RS], GIS and VB 6.0., for the Mangalore coastal zone industrial area of Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka state, along West Coast of India. The study area lies between 74°45'00'' to 74°52'30''E longitude and 12°52'30'' to 13°00'00''N latitude. The database of TCSIS consists of both conventional data and RS data, and analysed using ERDAS Imagine 9.0 and ArcGIS 8.3 software. Different thematic maps prepared include LU/LC map, drainage map, road and pipeline network map, slope map, Digital Elevation Model, relative risk maps and pipeline route for the transportation of hazardous chemicals from port to refinery. The TCSIS module developed using RS, GIS and V.B.6.0, characterizes the ability of a spilled chemical to immediately impact human health, natural resources, and incorporates these into an overall measure of terrestrial chemical risk and aids in planning, preventing and responding to a terrestrial chemical spill.

Despite some efforts to get better estimation of the primary production of the Yellow Sea, there is still uncertainty in the estimates. Extreme range of the environmental factors through seasons makes the estimation difficult. The high variability in environmental characteristics calls for using satellite data for better estimation of the primary production of the Yellow Sea. To achieve the goal with reasonable accuracy using satellite data, there are many problems to resolve such as retrieval of chlorophyll and diffuse attenuation coefficient of PAR, and estimation of physiological parameters and vertical structure of chlorophyll in water column. Here we analyzed 66 vertical profiles of chlorophyll-a obtained during March-August in 1994-2001 period. Using some relationships among parameters, we attempt to retrieve subsurface chlorophyll profiles only from KPAR (downwelling attenuation coefficient of PAR) and surface chlorophyll-a values. Although uncertainty was high in predicting accurate shape of the profiles (e.g., exact depth of subsurface chlorophyll maximum), fairly accurate estimation of depth-integrated primary production was made given appropriate P-I parameters. We also compared the estimates with those from VGPM (vertically generalized production model). VGPM gave much higher estimates than simulated in-situ depthintegrated primary production. The reason of the discrepancy seems that P_opt ^B from VGPM formulation were higher than estimated in-situ P_opt ^B . Adjusted VGPM gave better results than original VGPM. But the depth-resolved model was better than the adjusted VGPM in terms of fitness and bias.

Trichodesmium, a major colonial cyanobacterial nitrogen fixer, forms large blooms in tropical oligotrophic oceans and enhances CO₂ sequestration by the ocean due to its ability to fix dissolved dinitrogen, however, its detection by satellite has not yet been successful in the South Western Tropical Pacific. Here, an algorithm has been developed for discriminating radiance anomalies observed in SeaWiFS imagery over the summertime Tropical Pacific. Its validation used 70 in situ observations of Trichodesmium accumulations for the period 1997-2004. The fraction of pixels identified as Trichodesmium in the region 5°S-25°S 160°E-190°E is low (between 0.1 and 0.5%) but is about 100 times higher than previous algorithms indicate. The algorithm reproduces the observed seasonal and inter-annual variability of Trichodesmium blooms in the SWTP.

During the period 2000-2005, the atmospheric dynamic showed a significant influence on the dust inputs dynamic and, as a result, on the primary production of the northwest African Upwelling System since 2000 to 2005. In this period, the annual mean sea level pressure became higher, ranging from 1014 to 1015 mb. Mean annual zonal wind intensity became higher (from 1.1 to 1.8 m s^-1), while the mean annual meridional wind reduced from 6.2 to 5.3 m s^-1. Mean annual satellite-derived AVHRR/NOAA Sea Surface Temperature recorded in the northwest African Upwelling becomes warmer with 18.3°C to 18.8°C in Cape Ghir, and from 19.5°C to 20.3°C north Canary Islands waters. Chlorophyll data from SeaWiFS/OV-2 showed a different pattern trend. Mean annual CHL levels increased at eutrophic-like waters of Cape Ghir from 0.65 mg m^-3 to 0.9 mg m^-. However, data were significantly reduced from 0.59 mg m^-3 to 0.31 mg m^-3 in oligotrophic-like waters of the Canary Islands. Changes observed in the role of CHL during the last 6-years period could be associated to intensive dust deposition and the exceptional weather warming observed in this area since 2000. However, it is addressed to a single 7 years period and conclusions on possible links between dust deposition and marine biochemistry activity cannot be generalized.

High primary productivity along the central east coast of India is usually related to coastal upwelling activity that injects nutrients into the euphotic zone in response to prevailing longshore winds. The upwelling process has maximum intensity during March and August-September, with the coastal upwelling index varying from 10 to 150 m3/s per 100 m of coastline. Along the entire coast of the peninsula, the upwelling intensity changes in accordance with local wind conditions. I have identified the seasonal and synoptic variability of upwelling signatures on the central east coast of India, using averaged monthly and weekly sea surface temperature (SST) distributions obtained from remote sensing imagery from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer in the period from 2000 to 2003. Analyse the seasonal mean variability of the upwelling-forced conditions, the average monthly PFEL coastal upwelling index (CUI) for 1990 through 2003 have been calculated for the entire central east coast with latitude resolution of 0.5°, attending to the local coastline orientation for each point. The index also shows a near-perfect confirmation of both the upwelling intensification during March, and the decrease of upwelling-favorable conditions towards the south. Spectra calculated using entire time series of from 2000 to 2003 wind data show that the frequency ranges from 0.1 to 0.2 cycles/day (corresponding to periods of 5 to 10 days) and has a number of significant energy peaks. The presence of energy frequency ranges from 0.1 to 0.2 cycles/day became evident, especially for the Visakhapatnam and Chennai stations.

The purpose of this works was to investigate temporal and spatial variation of chlorophyll-a concentration and sea surface temperature before and after the typhoon Ketsana passage in subtropical western North Pacific Ocean and to evaluate primary production enhancement by satellite data. Chlorophyll-a concentration kept higher level (>0.1mg/m3) for one month after typhoon Ketsana passage Maximum value of chlorophyll-a concentration was 3.5 mg/m3 that is 70 times more than a normal condition of the area in the seventh day after the passage. Sea surface temperature decreased from 30 to 22 °C. The lowest Sea surface temperature was recorded in Oct. 25 after two days the passage. Time rag was 4 days between Sea surface temperature minimum and chlorophyll-a concentration maximum. Primary production enhancement by the typhoon was estimated 727 Gg Carbon. Carbon fixation by typhoon Ketsana was estimated about 0.11% of western North Pacific's annual new production.

Tropical oligotrophic coral reef lagoons are areas of high biodiversity. Chlorophyll concentration, a proxy for phytoplankton biomass and primary production, is useful to monitor the carbon balance in the context of the climate change and to validate simulations by coupled biogeochemical models. Chlorophyll monitoring by Aqua/MODIS is examined on the large tropical oligo- to mesotrophic lagoon of New Caledonia (23,900 km²). The classical OC3 algorithm developed for MODIS can only be applied in deep waters. In shallow water, when the water is clear with a weak attenuation, the bottom reflectance influences the surface reflectance and then induces an error in the chlorophyll determination. Here, a new OC3-type polynom, relating satellite reflectance ratios and chlorophyll, was determined from bio-optical data collected during a cruise (Valhybio) on the R/V Alis in the frame of the Programme National de Télédétection Spatiale. From the 22th of March to the 9th of April, data were collected during two surveys of the same network. A total of 170 in situ bio-optical measurements in the South Western and South lagoons of New Caledonia were obtained, within a 2 weeks interval (70 non-cloudy match-ups). Four Modis images were acquired during this cruise with moderate to good atmospheric conditions. The new polynom gives a RMS of 14.8% and a MNB of - 9% and gives a better representation of the "true" water column chlorophyll concentration of the New Caledonia lagoon.

Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) retrieval in case II waters is of intense research now. And due to the high turbidity of case II waters, most of the Chl-a information we have retrieved is the signal of suspended sediment concentrations. In order to improve the accuracy, we not only study the new retrieval algorithm, but also get more in-situ data sets. Thus, this paper studies the in-situ data in the Changjiang River Estuary and adjacent sea from Apr. 5th to May 5th in 2007, and the results show that the Changjiang diluted water (CDW) extends offshore with a bimodal structure during the observation, one extending toward the southeast, the other toward the northeast, the main axis of the CDW extending toward the northeast. There exists two centers of higher Chl-a concentration near the Changjiang River mouth, (122.45E,31.75N) and (123.2E, 30.5N), and the maximum concentrations have reached 6.5ug/L,6.3ug/L respectively. The Chl-a concentration would be increased significantly by the continual strong winds. The horizontal Chl-a maximum distribution is closely related to the position of CDW and the current structure.

Brasil and Bolivia have water plans projects on the Beni-Madeira river, a major tributary of the Amazon. There are four main tributaries to the Rio Madeira: the Guapore, the Mamore and the Beni rivers into the Bolivian territory, and the Madre de Dios River crossing the North of Bolivia, coming from Peru. Most parts of these rivers are very far from the Andean capital cities of Bolivia and Peru, unreachable for long periods of time. Very few gauging stations are in operation, either for the Bolivian or the Peruvian part, most of them being located at the Andes piedmont or near the confluence at the Brazilian border as they form the Madeira river. This situation is exemplary of large transboundary basins in the tropical part of the world. We have computed 39 water level time series using ENVISAT altimetry data over the four tributaries of the Madeira and the Madeira itself. We present a preliminary study mostly conducted onto the Guapore river, in order to assess the quality of these time series for a variety of situations, but mostly narrow and meandering riverbeds. Comparison between water levels variation in the mainstream and within the inundations plains and lakes are drawn. We conclude by the perspectives offered by the combined use of radar altimetry and SAR imagery for the global monitoring of water resources, in large tropical transboundary basins.

This study deals with the interannual variation of summer upwelling in the Taiwan Strait (TS), based on the empirical orthogonal function analysis. NOAA AVHRR sea surface temperature dataset from 1985-2005 and hydrographic records at two coastal stations from 1970-2001 are used. The results indicate that the first mode (85.3%) of the spatial variance shows a persistent front, which is generally aligned northeast-southwestward in the western TS. The eigenvector time series show that the variability of this front with time is closely correlated with the change in the wind stress anomaly of alongshore wind component derived from 17 years of ERS and QuickSCAT wind dataset from 1992-2005. The records of the water temperature and salinity anomaly at Pingtan Is. located in the northwestern TS, and Dongshan Is. located in the southwestern TS show that a negative temperature anomaly appears along with a positive salinity anomaly in some years. This suggests a dominant influence of cold and saline upwelling water at the surface. The years for notable cooling events derived from the station measurements are generally consistent with the time series of EOF Mode 1. These results indicate that for the entire west TS, the summer coastal upwelling was strong in 1987, 1993, and 1998 during the period from 1985 to 2005. A delayed ENSO effect is suggested as a major mechanism for the interannual variability of TS coastal upwelling.

A workshop on fisheries was held in Noumea on November 21, 2008 to address remote-sensing applications to fisheries adapted to the particular needs and problems of Western and Central Pacific Island countries. During the workshop, presentations and discussions covered various topics related to remote sensing of coastal and open ocean waters and its applications to fisheries. Participants were introduced to remote sensing of ocean colour and its significance vis-à-vis the marine food web. Applications to fisheries included improvements of fisheries operations to increase efficiency of fishing effort, assessment of fish stocks health, growth and recruitment, and ecosystem dynamics. A project on the Societal Applications in Fisheries & Aquaculture using Remote Sensing Imagery (SAFARI) and a global Network for marine ecosystem management (ChloroGIN) were also presented. The particular issues arising in the use of remote sensing for fisheries in the tropical island regimes were reviewed and recommendations on the use of remote sensing in the context of fisheries were presented.

Application of MODIS in ocean color is mainly based on bands 8-16, whose spatial resolution is 1km. This spatial resolution can't meet the demand of inland waters with small area. Then, taking TaiHu lake in China as an example, we put forward an atmospheric correction algorithm for bands 1 and 2 whose spatial resolution is 250m. Firstly, we choose one pixel whose digital number of band 16 is the smallest in Taihu lake as the clear pixel. The aerosol parameters of the clear pixel are calculated by the standard atmospheric correction algorithm for Case 1 waters. Secondly, we can calculate the aerosol scattering radiance of bands 1, 2 of other pixels with assumption that the aerosol type and optical thickness keep the same over Taihu lake. This algorithm combines the advantage of bands 8-16 in ocean color atmospheric correction with the high spatial resolution of bands 1 and 2. In order to test the precision of this algorithm, we choose an MODIS-Aqua image which are covering Taihu lake and are acquired in the time of 2004 Taihu autumn cruise. We use our atmospheric correction algorithm to process the selected image and compare the retrieved remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) with measured Rrs. The average relative of bands 1 and 2 are respectively 24.85% and 41.44%, demonstrating that this algorithm has the potential of application in the atmospheric correction of inland waters.

Landscape pattern and eco-hydrological process had changed greatly after seven times emergency water transportation in the lower reaches of Tarim River, Xinjiang, China. After analyzing the changes of eco-hydrological process, ground water level, soil moisture and vegetation growth etc. of emergency water transportation, remote sensing images in 2000 and 2005 year which present the situation before and after the emergency water transportation were processed and dynamic change characteristics of landscape pattern were analyzed. The changes of landscape pattern were described as follows: The forest land, waters, farmland and construction landscape area increase, and forest land increases the biggest, which increased by 23.03% during last 5 years. Waters landscape change is only inferior to forest land, which increased by 16.04%. The lawn, sand and Gobi saline-alkali land landscape area reduced; lawn and farmland had made the biggest contribution to the increase of forest land by 6.46% and 4.79% in the year 2005. Landscape diversity index, evenness index, fractal dimension and general fragmentation increased, but dominance index reduced. The results indicate that RS plays the vital role in the macroscopic dynamic change analysis of landscape pattern and seven times emergency water transportation has greatly influenced eco-hydrology process and landscape pattern changes in the lower reaches of Tarim River.

The spatial and temporal distributional patterns of suspended sediments (SS) in the East China Sea (ECS) and Yellow Sea (YS) were investigated by using satellite ocean color data from SeaWiFS and by using in-situ data. Except for the Southeastern YS, the overall distribution patterns of SS revealed a general, cross-shelf decreasing trend along the sediment dispersal system away from the rivers, closely consistent with the previous classification of SS - Infant stage, Younger stage, Mature stage and Old stage. We hypothesize that the mature stage plays an important role in transporting enormous amount of fine-grained sediments to the down streamside of China. Such transport of SS during this stage is much higher than those during other stages and most of these sediments are supplied from the resuspended mudsediments of the ECS, with origins mainly in Yangtze River. This study suggests that the resuspension and outflow of the sediment plume is primarily caused by intensive mixing and existence of the coastal and offshore circulation features during the mature stage of the SS evolution.

The purpose of our research is to develop the procedure to extract the information on water quality of Lake Kitagata (heavily eutrophic lake), from multi-spectral satellite images. As the first step of our research, the controlled experiment in the laboratory, measuring the spectral reflectance of water of Lake Kitagata to search the principal components in it, has been carried out. Preliminary results of the laboratory experiment indicate that the main components of the water of Lake Kitagata are mud and plant including phytoplankton. Moreover, the results of the analyses for the direct sampling data of Lake Kitagata obtained by local government of Fukui prefecture (Fukui Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science) are also reported.

One of the important tasks about oceanic environment remote sensing is to real-time forecast the oceanic environment unexpected abnormalities or disasters. We are requested to instantly detect, quickly process, exactly analyze and forecast. As we known, it is not enough to estimate by gray. We can make full use of color difference of images to obtain more environment information, synthesize spectrum information to quickly detect, exactly extract and forecast the oceanic environment unexpected abnormalities. In this paper, we aim at algal overrun incident in Qingdao sea area of China On August, 2008. We will discuss the method of using NDVI to detect and extract oceanic environment abnormalities on color difference. Our research will establish the foundation of monitoring oceanic algal overrun by remote sensing.

During recent years, more and more efforts have been focused on developing new models based on ocean optics theory to retrieve water's bio-geo-chemical parameters or inherent optical properties (IOPs) from either ocean color imagery or in situ measurements. Basically, these models are sophisticated, and hard to invert directly, look up table (LUT) technique or optimization methods are employed to retrieve the unknown parameters, e.g., chlorophyll concentration, CDOM absorption, etc. Many researches prefer to use time-consuming global optimization methods, e.g., genetic or evolutionary algorithm, etc. In this study, different optimization methods, smooth nonlinear optimization (NLP), global optimization (GO), nonsmooth optimization (NSP), are compared based on the sophisticated hyper-spectral semianalytical (SA) algorithm developed by Lee et al., retrieval accuracy and performance are evaluated. It is found that retrieval accuracy don't have much difference, the performance difference, however, is much larger, NLP works very well for the SA model. For a given model, it is better to analyze the model is linear, nonlinear or nonsmooth category problem, sometimes, convex also need to be determined, or linearize some nonsmooth problem caused by if decision, then select the corresponding category optimization methods. Initial values selection is a big issue for optimization, the simple statistical models (e.g., OC2 or OC4) are used to retrieve the unknowns as initial values.

The geologist try to understand relationship between soil erosion observed and natural landscape structure. Erosion can effectively appears in the vicinity of linear or planar structures of soil (lines, faults or materials change). Once eroded areas are mapped, an inventory of relief linear shapes is done. The crossing geomorphological analysis with other environmental parameters allows to predict the becoming eroded areas. Lineaments detection is usually made by photointerpretation. DEM (Digital Elevation Model) visual analysis is another alternative but not sufficient, so it uses the derived models from DEM called hillshade images. The DEM is lighted up by a virtual source with a direction and height incidence. A good study require a complete lightings visual interpretation which is very slow and subjective. This paper propose an automatic process that help geologist to detect and analyse the geomorphological structures present in the landscape by using image analysis methods. This study focus on lines and catchments basins structures. First a new watershed and catchments basins segmentation method is developed it defines an attractive structure between pixels (based on path of steepest slope). After these lines are automatically extracted by Hough transform and their preferential direction is analysed by a technique called directions rose. Some results are given on DEM and Hillshade images for a particular areas of the main New Caledonia island where soil erosion is a serious problem mainly due to tropical weather (violent rains) and human activities (mining, bush fire) on the weathered rocks (laterites) in mountain.

Since China launched first marine satellite HY-1A in May 2002, the second Chinese ocean color satellite HY-1B sponsored by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) was launched by the Long March rocket on April 11, 2007. There are two sensors in the satellite, one is the Chinese ocean color and temperature scanner (COCTS), and the other is the Coastal Zone Imager (CZI). So far, more than one thousand five hundred orbits data have been received and analysis for application study. In this paper, first the properties and characteristics of HY-1B are briefly introduced with comparing to the SeaWiFS. Second, the data processing technique of COCTS will be discussed in detail, such as satellite cross radiation calibration, atmospheric correction, etc. Third, the remote sensing products of ocean color and temperature are mapped by HY-1B to study its application potentiality. The results show that the HY-1B has its latent capability for the application of marine environment detection. Finally, some suggestion is proposed to modify the next ocean satellite and sensors, such as adding the properties of tilt scanning case, modification of CZI element uniform and future ocean color satellite development in China.

In the Saemangeum coastal area as a study area, the tidal dyke of 33 km-long has been constructed for over 10 years. This large scale of coastal engineering work has influenced the environment around the Saemangeum tide embankment. Especially the construction has induced in the changes of ocean circulation system, so that the re-suspension and movement of the Suspended Sediments (SS) were changed. The Suspended Sediments Concentration (SSC) is an important factor for understanding of the Saemangeum oceanic environmental change because SSC directly affect to the primary production by phytoplankton in the ocean. Accordingly we investigated and monitored the SS and chlorophyll concentration change using time-series multi-sensor satellite data. We used Landsat TM/ETM+ for the SS and chlorophyll monitoring respectively. As a result, it was found that the northern sea area of Gogunsan Islands had significantly become clear after the completion of 4th embankment in the end of 2003 whereas the southern sea area was getting a high amount of incoming flux of SS through 2 dyke gates that were still under construction. Chlorophyll concentration around the 4th embankment showed an increasing pattern after dyke construction.

The principal components analysis method is applied to simulate the ocean reflectance spectra in this article. Fifty ocean reflectance spectra data measured in different seas are selected and analyzed to generate spectral components. Seven principal spectral components are extracted and represent 95%, almost all, of the total reflectance spectra information. These seven principal spectral components are then used to simulate different ocean reflectance spectra. Several simulated examples are presented in this article.

An original data set has been acquired on the 5^th of April 2008 during the international field experiment ECORS-Truc Vert 2008 (SW France) in the nearshore zone over a complex bathymetry and in moderate turbid waters (SPM ⪅10 mg/l). This data set synchronizes in-situ reflectance measurements onboard a jet-ski, bathymetric surveys and a Formosat-2 high-resolution satellite acquisition. The jet-ski provides an interesting mean to gather optical data in shallow waters and in environments hard to sample with traditional coastal ships. An experimental device has been implemented on the jet-ski, equipped with two TRIOS RAMSES sensors which measure simultaneous atmospheric downwelling irradiances E_d and in-water upwelling radiances Lu in the 350-950nm range. Water samples have also been collected at different stages of the jet-ski trajectory (3-25m water depth) in order to assess the concentrations of the ocean constituents (SPM and Chl-a). In the current study we present a methodology to validate FORMOSAT-2 high-resolution ocean color data using "jetski" reflectance measurements, which first require a detailed analysis. The reflectance spectra measurements are shown to be consistent: (i) they are typical of the presence of mineral particles with light absorption at short wavelengths; (ii) their shape and magnitude depend on the depth and the water type (turbidity); (iii) some of them, especially in low turbid waters, are similar to other reflectance spectra measured northward from a ship (Gironde mouth). Thus, the use of "jet-ski" ocean color measurements appears to be adequate for remote sensing calval activities in shallow case-2 waters.

The feasibility of retrieving aerosol vertical distribution from the ratio of atmospheric radiance in, and out of, the oxygen A-band is investigated. Two typical cases of aerosol vertical profiles are considered, namely an exponential profile (aerosols concentrated near the surface), and a Gaussian profile (aerosols concentrated in altitude). The problem is expressed as a linear inverse problem with a compact operator, and a Tikhonov regularization scheme is implemented for its inversion. It is found that the exponential profile can be reconstructed accurately and in a stable manner, while this is not the case for the profile with aerosols concentrated in altitude. These results are explained by the spectral properties of the operator. Information on profile shape and/or utilization of spectral ratios more sensitive to upper layers would improve reconstruction when aerosols are located in altitude.

Beijing-1 small satellite has three bands of green, red and near-infrared, with spatial resolution of 32 meters. Three days Beijing-1 data are used to retrieve distribution and living status of Enteromorpha clathrata (a kind of green algae and called Hutai in Chinese). First, use the non-supervised classification to separate the kinds who has big spectral differences. Second, the cloud and cloud-covered green algae can be separated by the ratio of near-infrared and red. In the end, the green algae distribution is obtained. The NDVI is used for indicator of living status and density. MODIS has the advantage of high temporal although its spatial resolution is much coarse than Beijing-1. A decision tree is developed to retrieve green algae. First, the cloud is eliminated by its high reflectance. Second, the NDVI is calculated and a threshold value is set to determine whether the grid is green algae. The green algae distribution results from Beijing-1 and MODIS are compared. Generally, the Beijing-1 extracted green algae is coincide with the MODIS extracted green algae. The Beijing-1 extracted algae area is smaller than that of MODIS, because the MODIS has spatial resolution of 250-meter, its situation of mix pixel is severer.