ABSTRACTS

Oral Session 3 | Tuesday, October 4, 10:00–10:20 | Abstract 534

True color image sequences from geostationary and polar-orbiting sensor data fusion: Observations of high temporal-resolution coastal ocean processes

A sensor data fusion technique has been developed to render GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) data in true color spaces consistent with radiance signals detected by the Ocean Land Colour Instrument (OLCI, Sentinel 3A/B) and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS, SNPP/NOAA-20). Given the very high temporal resolution of the ABI data, the results have revealed phenomena of the coastal ocean that have largely been unobserved at synoptic scales. Here we focus on three particular sequences that show: (1) a submesoscale eddy along a coastal frontal boundary, (2) diurnal variability of shelf sediment excitation/settling following cold front passage, and (3) shelf frontal boundary movements/subduction along color gradients demarcating low-to-marine salinity transitions. These coastal ocean image sequences are further analyzed in conjunction with numerical ocean circulation simulations (Navy Coastal Ocean Model, NCOM) and coupled air-sea numerical simulations (Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System, COAMPS). The combined model results and color image sequence analysis support the hypothesis that certain regional true color patterns indicate specific ocean circulation processes and coupled biogeochemical/physical phenomena. For example, sequence (2) shows ocean color patterns are temporally synchronous with COAMPS simulations of water column turbulence and diurnal stratification as driven by air-sea interactions across shelf waters. A simple model of sediment excitation and settling driven by simulated vertical diffusivities replicates the spatiotemporal patterns revealed in the images. Preliminary results using these sensor fusion techniques with the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) are also shown and discussed. 

Jason Jolliff, US Naval Research Laboratory

Sherwin Ladner, US Naval Research Laboratory

M. David Lewis, US Naval Research Laboratory

Sean McCarthy, US Naval Research Laboratory 

Adam Lawson, US Naval Research Laboratory 

Travis Smith, US Naval Research Laboratory 

Richard Crout, US Naval Research Laboratory

Hans Ngodock, US Naval Research Laboratory

Ewa Jarosz, US Naval Research Laboratory