satellite assessment of bio-optical properties of northern gulf of mexico coastal waters following hurricanes katrina and rita卫星的评估bio-optical墨西哥湾北部沿海水域的属性后飓风卡特里娜和丽塔.pdfVIP

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