Earth Scan Laboratory Satellite Surveillance of Mississippi River Diversions and Gulf of Mexico Nan

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Earth Scan Laboratory Satellite Surveillance of
Mississippi River Diversions and Gulf of Mexico
Nan Walker, Ph.D.P.I. Remote Sensing
ProjectDept. of Oceanography and Coastal
SciencesDirector, Earth Scan LaboratoryLouisiana
State University
Satellite products http//www.esl.lsu.edu
Goal
Plan
To support research, education and public
service/emergency response with near real time or
archival remotely sensed satellite data, its
processing, analysis, interpretation, and
dissemination.
? Develop advanced satellite products for
the northern Gulf of Mexico to provide
real-time and long-term surveillance of the
coasts, ocean, and atmosphere including
sea-surface temperature, cloud-top
temperatures, suspended sediments, water mass
color, chlorophyll a, and coastal change. ?
Increase use of satellite remote sensing data
between the remote sensing community, the
coastal restoration community, modelers,
industry, other educators, and emergency
responders.
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Mission Emergency Response
Research Education
LSU Resource Earth Scan Laboratory
Antenna installation
Katrina
Real-time data NOAA
AVHRR GOES-8 GVAR Orbview-2
SeaWiFS Terra/Aqua MODIS Oceansat-1
OCM RADARSAT SAR

• Largest University Satellite Data Archive in
  southeast U.S.A.
• Staffed largely by LSU students
• Celebrated 20 years of operation in 2008!

Eath Scan Lab, Coatal Studies
Institute Luisiana State Unviersity Baton Rouge,
Louisiana Directors Oscar Huh, Nan Walker
Associate Director Larry Rouse System Manager
Alaric Haag
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Major Activities fully or partially supported by
Shell with Earth Scan Laboratory participants
Caernarvon land/water change
analysis and future vegetation analysis (Jin
Jin Shi, DeWitt Braud, Nan Walker) Harmful
algal bloom study in Lac des Allemands, Davis
Pond Diversion Region PhD student project
(Padmanava Dash, Nan Walker, Eurico DSa)
Surveillance of Mississippi River Diversions and
fluxes into coastal ocean Provided via web
page http//www.esl.lsu.edu (Earth
Scan Laboratory staff and students) Satellite
product development in support of numerical
modeling group Sea Surface Temperatures,
Suspended Sediments, Chlorophyll a,
Caernarvon land/water areas (Nan Walker and ESL
staff and students)
Antenna repair
The training lab
The core ESL Team (2007)
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20 Years of Change in the Caernarvon River
Diversion using
Landsat Satellite Sensors
1988 to 2005 Water area increased 26 Katrina
impact Water area increased 21 more
Jan 1988
Feb 2005
Feb 2009
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Higher Resolution Land/Water Change Analysis
using SPOT 2004-2008 and Recent Field
Observations (3/30/09)
3 Examples of Land Gain
Channel clogged with marsh debris and
short-lived cursed buttercup
Low-lying mud-flats with freshwater plants and
some floating plants
Land converted to Water 35 Water converted to
Land 9
Marsh debris piled 2 meters high

• No evidence of land-building sediment in areas
  of land
• gain (see photos from 3 new land stations)
• Some new land is floating marsh and aquatics
• New water areas are 1-2 feet deep

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Satellite and Field Study of Harmful Algal Blooms
(HABs) in Davis Pond Diversion Region
Lac Des Allemands no bloom

• True color images obtained by the Indian sensor
  called
• the Ocean Color Monitor (OCM) of the
• upper Barataria estuary, showing NO BLOOM
• in the fall and a LARGE BLOOM n the spring at
• Lac des Allemands (in red circles).
• Although many HAB species are present, of
• particular concern are the colonial
• cyanobacteria Anabaena cf. circinalis and
• other Anabaena sp. (up to 6 additional
• species), which are toxic to humans and
  accumulate
• in fish and crabs!
• Spatial resolution is 360 x 240 m, which is
• superior to U.S. sensors SeaWiFS (1.1 x 1.1
  km)
• and MODIS (1 x 1 km), and essential for
• small lakes such as this one.

November 17, 2006
Lac Des Allemands large bloom
April 26, 2007
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Lac des Allemands Time Series Pigment Data and
Relevance

• Echinenone

• Total Chlorophyll

• In 2006-2007, extensive bi-weekly and weekly
  field trips were
• undertaken to obtain a database of
  photosynthetic pigment concentrations and
• phytoplankton composition which are being used
  in tandem with measurements
• from the OCM sensor to quantify algal blooms
  from space.
• Development of algorithms for chlorophyll a,
  cyanobacteria (using Phycocyanin
• pigment), Anabaena (using Echinenone pigment)
  and Microcystis sp. (using
• Myxo-xanthophyll pigment concentrations) is
  underway.
• Ultimate goal is to be able to detect and
  quantify without field measurements!

Eath Scan Lab, Coatal Studies
Institute Luisiana State Unviersity Baton Rouge,
Louisiana Directors Oscar Huh, Nan Walker
Associate Director Larry Rouse System Manager
Alaric Haag
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Research on the fates and transformations of
river water and algal blooms within river
diversions and along the Louisiana coast to
improve management practices
MODIS views of Mississippi River water In Lake
Pontchartrain during the 2008 flood
SPOT view of river water moving through
Caernarvon Diversion during the river flood of
April 2008
OM 25m rue color My 18, 2008