Particle and Optical Properties at the Mouth of the Columbia River: Variability and Signature in Remotely Sensed Reflectance
Abstract
River mouths are one of the most complicated environments for prediction of opticalproperties because they are subject to wide variations in a number of key parameters. River discharge, tidal exchange, biological growth, and physical forcing by waves and currents alllead to variations in particle concentration and composition as well as the concentration ofdissolved constituents. The overall goal of the proposed research is to improve quantitativerelationships linking particle and optical in river mouths. The research will use datacollected in the Mouth of Columbia River as part of the RIVET 2 DRI in June 2013. Thespecific goals of the research are to complete the analysis of the variability of opticalproperties in the mouth of the Columbia River on ebbing and flooding tides during high flow,to complete efforts to relate optical variability to the concentration and dynamics of dissolvedand particulate materials, including variability in the particle size distribution, and to relatethe optical properties to observed ocean reflectance, so algorithms to invert surface color to in-water constituents can be tested and improved. The research combines analysis of in situparticle and optical data with analysis of remotely sensed reflectance data. It also proposesdevelopment of a simplified 2-D model of an estuary with forcing similar to the ColumbiaRiver in order to conduct an analysis of the particle and optical parameters that optimize thefit between model and observations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 08, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512106
Entities
People
- Paul Hill
Organizations
- Dalhousie University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy