CoastWatch Tools and Data Featured in Undergraduate Courses
Updated: May 26, 2022
| Dr. Sherry Palacios from CSUMB utilizes CoastWatch ERDDAP, Data Portal, and training materials in her oceanography curricula. |
Water Quality
CoastWatch/OceanWatch satellite data that are utilized for water quality monitoring and forecasting include ocean color, sea surface temperature, synthetic aperture radar and true color.
Ocean color is used to analyze and identify water clarity, Chlorophyll-a (as an indicator of phytoplankton biomass), algal blooms, aquatic vegetation, bottom substrate, suspended sediments and colored dissolved organic matter.
Sea surface temperature is utilized for forecasting biological occurrences of concern such as harmful algal blooms and infections diseases.
Synthetic aperture radar is typically used to detect surface oil slicks with true color imagery providing support for discriminating between surface oil slicks and floating algae.
Observing the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Volcanic Eruptions
Updated: May 26, 2022
| A look at how the three recent volcanic eruptions in Tonga affected the surrounding ocean, as observed with CoastWatch satellite data. |
NOAA researchers review approaches to satellite-derived coastal water quality products
Updated: October 16, 2019
| In a paper published in 2017 in Progress in Oceanography, coauthors Guanming Zheng and Paul M. DiGiacomo reviewed approaches to deriving water quality products from satellite ocean color data. They quantify and discuss the inherent uncertainties surrounding the characterization of water quality parameters of interest in coastal waters ... |
Booklet: Advanced techniques for monitoring water quality using Earth Observation
Updated: October 16, 2019
| AquaWatch, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Water Quality Initiative, presents information about water quality issues and monitoring in a variety of habitats and exemplars of water quality monitoring using archived and next generation Earth Observation data using technologies developed and exploited by researchers within the AquaWatch community. |
Temperature Climate Indicators of Estuaries
Updated: July 11, 2019
| The National Estuary Program identifies, protects, and conserves water quality for ecologically significant estuaries and surrounding watersheds. The National Estuary Program uses Sea Surface Temperature time series products produced by the NOAA CoastWatch East Coast Node for estuary management. |
Ocean acidification in the Caribbean
Updated: September 23, 2021
| In collaboration with the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory's Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems Division and NOAA Coral Reef Watch, the Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico node of CoastWatch produces an ocean acidification product suite for the greater Caribbean region to track changes in the surface ocean that can be used as an important tool in coral reef research and management. |
