Satellite Assessment of Bio-Optical Properties of Northern Gulf of Mexico Coastal Waters Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita 英文参考文献.docVIP

Sensors 2008, 8, 4135-4150; DOI: 10.3390/s8074135 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /sensors Article Satellite Assessment of Bio-Optical Properties of Northern Gulf of Mexico Coastal Waters Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Steven E. Lohrenz 1,*, Wei-Jun Cai 2, Xiaogang Chen 1 and Merritt Tuel 1 1 Department of Marine Science, The University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, USA; E-mails: xiaogang.chen@; merritt.tuel@ 2 Department of Marine Sciences, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA; E-mail: wcai@ * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: steven.lohrenz@ Received: 5 June 2008; in revised form: 18 June 2008 / Accepted: 6 July 2008 / Published: 10 July 2008 Abstract: The impacts of major tropical storms events on coastal waters include sediment resuspension, intense water column mixing, and increased delivery of terrestrial materials into coastal waters. We examined satellite imagery acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) ocean color sensor aboard the Aqua spacecraft following two major hurricane events: Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on 29 August 2005, and Hurricane Rita, which made landfall on 24 September. MODIS Aqua true color imagery revealed high turbidity levels in shelf waters immediately following the storms indicative of intense resuspension. However, imagery following the landfall of Katrina showed relatively rapid return of shelf water mass properties to pre-storm conditions. Indeed, MODIS Aqua-derived estimates of diffuse attenuation at 490 nm (K_490) and chlorophyll (chlor_a) from mid-August prior to the landfall of Hurricane Katrina were comparable to those observed in mid-September following the storm. Regions of elevated K_490 and chlor_a were evident in offshore waters and appeared to be associated with cyclonic circulation (cold-