Application of MODIS data to Coastal Regions with Pamlico Sound, USA as an Example

Richard P Stumpf, NOAA National Ocean Service, richard.stumpf@noaa.gov (Presenting)
Kimberly J.W. Hyde, NOAA Narragansett Lab, kim.hyde@noaa.gov
Timothy T. Wynne, IMSG, timothy.wynne@noaa.gov
Robert A. Warner, NOAA National Ocean Service, robert.a.warner@noaa.gov
Michelle C. Tomlinson, NOAA National Ocean Service, michelle.tomlinson@noaa.gov
R. Wayne Litaker, NOAA National Ocean Service, wayne.litaker@noaa.gov
William C. Holland, NOAA National Ocean Service, chris.holland@noaa.gov
Patricia A. Tester, NOAA National Ocean Service, pat.tester@noaa.gov

MODIS has bands that may provide information on coastal and estuarine systems. This includes wavelength bands with 250 m and 500 m resolution and bands that permit determination of fluorescent line height (FLH), an indicator of chlorophyll fluorescence. The Pamlico Sound region of the US southeast has a range of optical conditions, including coastal-shelf waters and case 1 water in the Gulf Stream. Each has varying levels of chlorophyll, suspended sediments, and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM). MODIS imagery was processed with the turbidity-switching version of the SWIR atmospheric correction. While the OC3M and OC2 chlorophyll algorithms and the FLH differentiate the high chlorophyll water in Pamlico Sound (5-25 µg/L) from the low chlorophyll water on the continental shelf (0.2 – 2 µg/L), they provide poor discrimination of variations in chlorophyll concentration in the Sound. These data sets suggest that FLH may be influenced by non-algal absorption. The OC3M and OC2 algorithms provide similar results in all areas including a winter peak in chlorophyll concentrations on the shelf. A winter peak was also evident in the reflectance at 670 nm, R(670), which is an indicator of suspended sediments. Variations observed in R(670) may be related to wind-driven resuspension, rather than input of sediments by river discharge.