Abstracts

SEARCH Open Science Meeting

October 27, 2003
Seattle, Washington, USA

Using Airborne Remote Sensing, Coupled with Satellite and Shipboard Data, to Map Changes in Coupled Physical and Biological Processes in the Ocean

Evelyn D. Brown1, Martin A. Montes Hugo2, James M. Churnside3, Richard L. Collins4
1Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 757220, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7220, USA, Phone 907-474-5801, Fax 907-474-1943, ebrown@ims.uaf.edu
2Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 757220, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7220, USA, Phone 907-474-5801, mmontes@ims.uaf.edu
3Environmental Technology Laboratory, R/E/ET1, NOAA, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA, Phone 303-497-6744, Fax 303-497-3577, James.H.Churnside@noaa.gov
4Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 757320, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7320, USA, Phone 907-474-7607, Fax 907-474-7290, richard.collins@gi.alaska.edu

From 2000 to 2002, multiple day and night aerial surveys were conducted using remote sensing tools including lidar, an IR radiometer, MicroSAS, and thermal and digital imagers. Measurements included ocean color, light penetration depth, sea-surface temperature, backscatter from plankton and nekton, and diurnal distributions of foraging sea birds, whales, and sea lions. The study area included fjords, inlets, continental shelves and open ocean. Temporal variability in physical and biological spatial structure was determined and compared to satellite-derived imagery, bottom topography, and oceanographic results from the companion study.

Over the three year period, we addressed effects of storms on spatial variability of prey fields for apex predators, spatial variability across the basin in biological standing stocks, effects of ship avoidance on prey fields for apex predators, and the association between surface features (derived from remote sensing) and subsurface structure. Examples of these results will be shown at the meeting. Developmental progress and future needs for airborne remote sensing of marine ecological processes will also be discussed.

Abstract Categories: Changes in the Sea

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