Satellite Capabilities for Water Resource/Quality Mapping 27 May 2013 Mark Kapfer C-Core 1

2 General Overview Earth Observation has spent a great deal of time and effort developing technology for ocean specific applications. We have taken some of this technology and brought it to a more local level and concentrated on developing usable and accurate inland lake products.

Satellite characteristics and capabilities Presentation Overview 3 Lake Winnipeg activities Higher spatial resolution product examples Chlorophyll-a Product

Satellite Capabilities 4 What can be Measured? –Water Quality Chlorophyll-a, cyanobacteria, total suspended solids (TSS), Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM), turbidity/clarity –Water Quantity Areal extent, water level –Other Temperature, bathymetry, submerged/emergent vegetation, land use/veg

Satellite Capabilities 5 Our focus? –Water Quality Chlorophyll-a, cyanobacteria, total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity/clarity

Earth Observation Satellites Can generalize them into: 6 Earth Observation Ocean Colour Missions Low Resolution, Wide Swath Widths Sensors designed for water quality Land Mapping Missions Moderate/High Resolution, Limited Swath Width Sensors designed for land resources

Sensors Designed for Ocean Colour Missions MODIS (Current) –Near-Real Time (< 3.5 hrs) –2300km at 1km res –1- 2 days frequency –Chlorophyll-a, total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity/clarity Water (Satellite) MERIS (Stopped operating in spring 2012) Near-real Time (< 3 hrs) 2300 km at 300m res 3 days frequency Chlorophyll-a, cyanobacteria, total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity/clarity

Sensors Designed for Ocean Colour Missions (Water) Sentinel-3 (Future: 2014) –Near-real Time (< 3 hrs) –1300 km at 300m res –3 days frequency (1 satellite); 1.4 days (2 satellites) –Water Quality Chlorophyll-a, cyanobacteria, total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity/clarity Water (Satellite)

Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) RADARSAT-2 (2007-Present) a) RADARSAT-2 30m resolution, dual pol. b) MODIS Aqua quick-look image, showing extensive bloom. ab Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR)

SAR Winds Using SAR imagery to calculate wind speed

Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) MERIS, 7 September 2009, 16:48 UTC; RADARSAT-2 VV, 8 September 2009 at 12:19 UTC Correlation better comparing >18.5 ug/L (Red) with dark SAR signature.

Sensor Characteristics: 12 How is it Measured - Spectral Bands: Discriminate features of interest Electromagnetic-Spectrum - Our focus: The Visible Light section of the Electromagnetic-Spectrum

Sentinel-3 will launch 2014 Includes all 15 MERIS bands plus 400, , , 767.5, 940, 1020nm 13 Spectral band Selection MERIS bands Visible Light

Advances in Spectral Band Selection VIIRS and SeaWifs, and higher spatial resolution systems like Landsat rely on band ratios in the blue range (blue coded cells). Affected by TSS. MERIS and MODIS channels allow Fluorescence Line Height (FLH) and Maximum Chlorophyll Index (MCI) to be derived (brown coded cells). Visible Light

Advances in Spectral Band Selection Why are Fluorescence Line Height (FLH) and Maximum Chlorophyll Index (MCI) important? FLH allow a user to visualize estimates of distribution and concentration of Chlorophyll-a. MODIS Chlorophyll-a product derived from FLH MCI allow a user to visualize areas of intense plankton blooms MERIS Chlorophyll-a product derived from MCI

Victoria Beach on Lake Winnipeg fouled by blue-green algae 16 Why Lake Winnipeg?

The world’s 10th largest freshwater lake (area): ~ 428 km long, 24,390 sq km. 17 Lake Winnipeg Site Gov.mb.ca The world’s third largest reservoir (re: Hydroelectric). Drainage basin: ~1,000,000 sq km and covers 4 provinces and 4 states. Plays a critical role in tourism, recreation, commercial and sport fisheries, and hydroelectric generation in Manitoba.

Water Quality Issues Increased loads of nitrogen and phosphorus, particularly in the south basin from the Red River and the Winnipeg River The emergence of large algal blooms, more common in the north basin The production of toxins by algae The invasion of aquatic species into the lake Climate change Wikipedia

In Flowing Rivers Drainage River The Systems

Lake Winnipeg Site Over 50% of all Nitrogen and Phosphorus that enter Lake Winnipeg come directly from the Red River and the Winnipeg River into the South Basin The South Basin is relatively shallow, ~11m maximum depth Despite heavy loads of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the South Basin, the main Phytoplankton blooms occur in the North Basin 60% of all Nitrogen and Phosphorus stay in Lake Winnipeg while only 40% get flushed out through the Nelson River

Lake Winnipeg Site Buoy Locations Water Quality products are very specific to a given lake. Lake Winnipeg is a special lake for a variety of reasons. In order to properly calibrate, there needs to be “ground” validation. Buoy networks (shown on the right), insitu data with weather stations, cruise data collecting values. Values include wind speed, wind direction, wave heights, sea surface temperature etc… Taking the time to calibrate the data is reflected in the accuracy of the products.

Indicator parameters - Temperature, chlorophyll-a, cyanobacteria, turbidity, total dissolved solids, (areal extent, level) m to 1km resolutions, various concentration thresholds 22 Lake Winnipeg Site Service Specifics Sensor Measurement Frequency (What we had planned) MODIS daily (Cloud dependent) MERIS3 days (Cloud dependent) RADARSAT-2 daily

Turnaround times –Hours Factors –Daylight, atmospheric constituents, wind effects, cloud free, ice free Impact –Wide area measurement 23 Lake Winnipeg Site Service Specifics

Chlorophyll Lake Winnipeg Outputs Chlorophyll- a This refers to the estimation of Chlorophyll-a. The output is a geotiff format. This product allows users to visualize the location of high concentrations of Chlorophyll-a and monitor it as it moves throughout the area. Anything 50 mg or over is considered a bloom.

Lake Winnipeg Chlorophyll Animation A powerful use of satellite remote sensing is to use its regular revisit to monitor annual and inter-annual trends in water quality indicators. This animation is showing MODIS chlorophyll-a time series during the 2012 season. Most of the nitrogen loads come from two of the main rivers feeding from the south and the west. Vertical Mixing occurs throughout.

Total Suspended Solids This refers to the amount of matter within a given area of water. TSS is composed of mineral matter (sediment/soil), phytoplankton etc… 26 Total Suspended Solids (TSS) Lake Winnipeg Outputs

Water/Sea Surface Temperature Refers to the temperature of the water close to the surface. This can be calculated by thermal infrared instruments which are carried on MODIS, VIIRS, and the future Sentinel-3 mission. 27 Water/Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Lake Winnipeg Outputs

Blue Green Algae MERIS was the only data source that can directly detect cyanobacteria with it’s unique 620 nm channel. This is a potential product with the Sentinel-3 Lake Winnipeg Outputs

Delivery System

Current State Complete automated processing chain Potential for increased product suite already in place (i.e. Cyanobacteria, Thermal Discharge, Phosphorus etc…) Lake Winnipeg Service currently working for a large lake. New sensors with higher resolution and same specs open up possibilities for increased coverages The more satellites available, the higher frequency of coverage available Processing chain for near real time data acquisition and dissemination is already online and fully operational

Looking Ahead New satellites are being launched every year with various capacities, new applications, new possibilities New higher resolution satellites open up new areas of focus. Higher resolution allows monitoring of smaller lakes Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 set to launch next year. Landsat-8 currently operational. More on the way The more satellites available, the higher frequency of coverage available The majority of sensors being launched are essentially free to use

Sentinel-3 3 times the resolution of the current MODIS products Higher resolution means higher accuracy of products Launches in 2014 Will be the worlds most advanced sensor for water quality available for commercial use Increased bands for increased information

Thank you for your time 27 May 2013 Mark Kapfer C-Core