Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
12-2017
Department
Oceanography
Abstract
Phytoplankton pigments absorb sunlight for photosynthesis, protect the chloroplast from damage caused by excess light energy, and influence the color of the water. Some pigments act as bio-markers and are important for separation of phytoplankton functional types. Among many efforts that have been made to obtain information on phytoplankton pigments from bio-optical properties, Gaussian curves decomposed from phytoplankton absorption spectrum have been used to represent the light absorption of different pigments. We incorporated the Gaussian scheme into a semi-analytical model and obtained the Gaussian curves from remote sensing reflectance. In this study, a series of sensitivity tests were conducted to explore the potential of obtaining the Gaussian curves from multi-spectral satellite remote sensing. Results showed that the Gaussian curves can be retrieved with 35% or less mean unbiased absolute percentage differences from MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-like sensors. Further, using Lake Erie as an example, the spatial distribution of chlorophyll a and phycocyanin concentrations were obtained from the Gaussian curves and used as metrics for the spatial extent of an intense cyanobacterial bloom occurred in Lake Erie in 2014. The seasonal variations of Gaussian absorption properties in 2011 were further obtained from MERIS imagery. This study shows that it is feasible to obtain Gaussian curves from multi-spectral satellite remote sensing data, and the obtained chlorophyll a and phycocyanin concentrations from these Gaussian peak heights demonstrated potential application to monitor harmful algal blooms (HABs) and identification of phytoplankton groups from satellite ocean color remote sensing semi-analytically.
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Wang, G., Lee, Z., & Mouw, C. (2017). Multi-Spectral Remote Sensing of Phytoplankton Pigment Absorption Properties in Cyanobacteria Bloom Waters: A Regional Example in the Western Basin of Lake Erie. Remote Sensing, 9(12). doi:10.3390/rs9121309
Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs9121309
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Erratum Note
Comment
This article was republished in 2018 with three corrections and is now attached here. The erratum note from the publishers with specific information is in the "Additional Files" section.