Optical Remote Sensing of Coastal Habitats, Moss Landing, California, 9-11 January, 2006: workshop proceedings

The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) Workshop on Optical Remote Sensing of Coastal Habitats was convened January 9-11, 2006 at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in Moss Landing, California, sponsored by the ACT West Coast regional partnership comprised of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). The "Optical Remote Sensing of Coastal Habitats" (ORS) Workshop completes ACT'S Remote Sensing Technology series by building upon the success of ACT'S West Coast Regional Partner Workshop "Acoustic Remote Sensing Technologies for Coastal Imaging and Resource Assessment" (ACT 04-07). Drs. Paul Bissett of the Florida Environmental Research Institute (FERI) and Scott McClean of Satlantic, Inc. were the ORS workshop co-chairs. Invited participants were selected to provide a uniform representation of the academic researchers, private sector product developers, and existing and potential data product users from the resource management community to enable development of broad consensus opinions on the role of ORS technologies in coastal resource assessment and management. The workshop was organized to examine the current state of multi- and hyper-spectral imaging technologies with the intent to assess the current limits on their routine application for habitat classification and resource monitoring of coastal watersheds, nearshore shallow water environments, and adjacent optically deep waters. Breakout discussions focused on the capabilities, advantages ,and limitations of the different technologies (e.g., spectral & spatial resolution), as well as practical issues related to instrument and platform availability, reliability, hardware, software, and technical skill levels required to exploit the data products generated by these instruments. Specifically, the participants were charged to address the following: (1) Identify the types of ORS data products currently used for coastal resource assessment and how they can assist coastal managers in fulfilling their regulatory and management responsibilities; (2) Identify barriers and challenges to the application of ORS technologies in management and research activities; (3) Recommend a series of community actions to overcome identified barriers and challenges. Plenary presentations by Drs. Curtiss 0. Davis (Oregon State University) and Stephan Lataille (ITRES Research, Ltd.) provided background summaries on the varieties of ORS technologies available, deployment platform options, and tradeoffs for application of ORS data products with specific applications to the assessment of coastal zone water quality and habitat characterization. Dr. Jim Aiken (CASIX) described how multiscale ground-truth measurements were essential for developing robust assessment of modeled biogeochemical interpretations derived from optically based earth observation data sets. While continuing improvements in sensor spectral resolution, signal to noise and dynamic range coupled with sensor-integrated GPS, improved processing algorithms for georectification, and atmospheric correction have made ORS data products invaluable synoptic tools for oceanographic research, their adoption as management tools has lagged. Seth Blitch (Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve) described the obvious needs for, yet substantial challenges hindering the adoption of advanced spectroscopic imaging data products to supplement the current dominance of digital ortho-quad imagery by the resource management community, especially when they impinge on regulatory issues. (pdf contains 32 pages)

Cheshire Meres 1995, May-June

This is the Cheshire Meres 1995, May – June Surveys Report from the National Rivers Authority, 1995. The report focuses on the surveys of ten Cheshire Meres in November 1994 and then again in May-June 1995 as part of a rolling program examining the water quality of this group of still waters. The ten meres surveyed were: Betley, Budworth, Combermere, Hatchmere, Oak mere, Pick mere, Redes, Rostheme, Tabley, and Tatton. This report discusses the results of the May-June survey before making a comparison between these and the November survey results. The section on results contains information about suspended solids (S.S.) and volatile suspended solids (V.S.S.); Nitrate and Nitrite; Ammonia; ortho-Phosphate; Silicate and Soluble reactive Silica; and total Phosphorus.

South Area still waters 1995 November surveys

This is the South Area still waters 1995 November surveys from the National Rivers Authority, 1996. The report focuses on the surveys of ten Cheshire Meres (Betley, Budworth, Combermere, Hatchmere, Oak mere, Pick mere, Redes, Rostherne, Tabley, and Tatton) previously surveyed in November 1994 and May 1995. Eight others (Chapel Mere, Little Mere, Marbury Mere, Mere Mere, Oss Mere, Petty Pool, Quoisley Big Mere and Tabley Moat) were surveyed for the first time. Two other lakes, Carr Mill Dam and Pennington Flash, were surveyed. Neither of these are considered to be part of the Cheshire meres group of lakes but are of a Regional interest. This report discusses the results of the November 1995 survey before making a comparison between these and the November 1994 survey results. The section on results contains information about water column profile; nutrients (chlorophyll a; Phaeophytin; Nitrate and Nitrite; Ammonia; ortho-Phosphate; Silicate; and total Phosphorus.

Cheshire stillwaters. Summary results of September 1998

This is the Cheshire stillwaters. Summary results of September 1998 from the Environment Agency, 1998. In May 1997, a Stillwaters meeting was held to discuss the way forward in stillwaters monitoring. It decided upon the establishment of a three year rolling programme, in which three stillwaters would be monitored three times a year, every third year. Oak Mere, Tatton Park Mere and Hatch Mere were surveyed between the 29th - 30th September as part of the three year rolling programme. Betley Mere, Petty Pool, Scotman's Flash and Pearson's Flash were also surveyed. Surveys also included algal and zooplankton samples, which are to be analysed by APEM and presented in the end of year report. The section on results contains information about water column profile; and nutrients (chlorophyll a; Phaeophytin; Nitrate and Nitrite; Ammonia; ortho-Phosphate; Silicate; and total Phosphorus).

The Cheshire Meres an analysis of data and a prioritisation of sites

This is a report on the Analysis of Data and a Prioritisation of Sites at the Cheshire Meres by the Institute of Freshwater Ecology. The report addresses data collected by the Agency for 24 basin sites in Cheshire. At least two samples were collected from each site, though not simultaneously. Sites were visited in May/June and in November. The determinands are standard and they included: water, temperature, conductivity, pH, DO, fractional white light penetration, TSS, chlorophyll, TP, ortho-phosphate, nitrate-, nitrite-, ammonium and silicate. Though concentrations were often higher than for other lakes in the region, rather exceeding criteria for classification as eutrophic lakes, the results confirmed that the series of lakes is, naturally, highly eutrophic and nothing in the present data differs so far from expectation that is persuasive that the ecosystems are reacting adversely to environmental stress. The data set is review and summarised, site-by-site, in an appendix. The grounds for prioritisation are discussed. Whether or not this preferred prioritised option is adopted, the Agency is recommended to review the way it carries out monitoring. The determinands and the sampling frequency need to be geared to the information that is required.

Climatic factors associated with phytoplankton community succession during and after the 1977 drought for the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary [abstract]

Principal coordinates analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to determine the environmental factors associated with the decline in phytoplankton production during and after the 1977 drought for the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary. Physical, chemical and biological data were collected semimonthly or monthly during the spring-summer between 1973 and 1982 from 15 sampling sites located throughout the Bay-Delta. A decline in phytoplankton community diversity and density during the 1977 drought and subsequent years (1978 through 1981) was described using principal coordinates analysis. The best multiple regression which described the changes in phytoplankton community succession contained the variables water temperature, wind velocity and ortho-phosphate concentration. Together these variables accounted for 61 percent of the variation in the phytoplankton community among years described by principal coordinates analysis. An increase in water temperature, wind velocity and ortho-phosphate concentration within the Bay-Delta, beginning in June 1976 and continuing through 1981, was demonstrated using weighted moving averages. From the strong association between phytoplankton community succession and climatic variables it was hypothesized that the decline in phytoplankton production during and after the 1977 drought was associated with climatic changes within the northeast Pacific.