Characterization of Suspended Particulates in the Northern Gulf of Mexico from Ocean Color Remote Sensing

Abstract

The ecosystem in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) is composed of fresh waters from coastal run-offs and the Mississippi River as well as clear-salty waters from the gulf. As a result, the composition of water constituents, as well as their spatial and temporal distributions, is complex and heterogeneous, with severe hypoxia events constantly happening in the NGOM region. In this study, using properties derived from measurements of ocean color radiance by a satellite sensor, the nature of the suspended particulates was characterized. In particular, not only the concentrations (and their spatial distributions) of suspended paniculate matters were derived from satellite images, but also the organic/inorganic nature of these particulates were characterized with derived inherent optical properties These results could help us better understand the dynamics of coastal ecosystems and the development of hypoxia.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 15, 2012
Accession Number
ADA556084

Entities

People

  • Bertrand Lubac
  • Changchun Huang
  • Dongshan Ko
  • Laodong Guo
  • Richard W Gould
  • Steven Lohrenz
  • Zhongping Lee

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Absorption Coefficients
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Chemistry
  • Dynamics
  • Ecosystems
  • Measurement
  • Mississippi
  • Mississippi River
  • North America
  • Optical Properties
  • Particles
  • Particulates
  • Remote Sensing
  • Spatial Distribution
  • Suspended Sediments
  • United States
  • Water

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography

Technology Areas

  • Space