Environmental management
In the coastal zone remote sensing provides particularly useful
information to measure and manage the interactions between human
society and the marine environment. Monitoring primary
productivity, harmful algal blooms and processes associated with
human activity can provide information to help regulate coastal
industries, develop ecosystem based management tools and protect
human health.
Among the many species of marine phytoplankton, some produce
toxins that can have serious impacts on fish or human health, which
can result in economic consequences if fisheries need to be closed.
Traditionally monitoring for harmful algal blooms has entailed
collection of samples for species identification or toxicity
analysis. However, in situ monitoring is expensive and,
where sampling is infrequent, detection may only happen once the
bloom is established. PML scientists have developed techniques for
the early detection of harmful algal blooms from satellite data and
mapping the extent of blooms using computer vision techniques.
Sea surface temperature data sets derived from satellites can be
used to identify the location of oceanic fronts. Fronts have been
shown to be hotspots for pelagic fish and large marine animals, as
nutrients are mixed to the surface at the boundaries of cold and
warm water, thus increasing plankton production and supply of food
for larger organisms. Identification of these hotspots can then
assist in the management of the marine ecosystem, as many of these
top marine predators are particularly vulnerable to environmental
change.
PML scientists have been funded by Defra to determine the
locations of ocean fronts as a indicator for marine diversity
hotspots, and hence, assist in the designation of the UK network of
Marine Protected Areas. Over 30,000 maps of sea surface
temperature, acquired over 10 years have been processed to generate
maps of the most frequently observed fronts which will be critical
for developing conservation strategies.
Projects
- Societal Applications in Fisheries and
Aquaculture using Remotely Sensed Imagery
(SAFARI)
SAFARI aims to accelerate the assimilation of
Earth observation into fisheries research and ecosystem based
fisheries management on a global scale.
- NERC
Airborne Research and Survey
Facility
The NERC Airborne Research and Survey Facility
operations team collect data from a Dornier 228 research
aircraft based at Gloucester Airport and the data gathered are
processed by the data analysis team at PML. Airborne remote sensing
provides an efficient method for the rapid collection of data over
a specified area, providing a transitionary scale with which to
validate satellite data and enabling the rapid acquisition of data
for sudden or unexpected events, such as floods and
earthquakes.