Florida Bay AVHRR Time Series CD-ROM

The NOAA Coastal Services Center's Coastal Remote Sensing program collaborated with Dr. Richard Stumpf (currently with the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, formerly with the U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]) to assemble a data set of remotely sensed Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) reflectance images, onto a CD-ROM covering a period from 1985-1997. This product is derived from the visible band of the AVHRR sensor and is a broad indicator of ocean surface sediment concentration at 1 kilometer resolution. It can also be empirically related to the diffuse attenuation coefficient and Secchi depth. The images are in a GeoTIFF format suitable for import into GIS and image processing software. Over 1000 usable scenes comprise this time series, and seasonal and monthly image averages have also been derived. In addition to the reflectance images, a coincident set of sea surface temperature images are available. The images are co-registered with an accuracy of +/- 1 pixel in a Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection.
 
 
 

The goal of this CD-ROM product is to provide a digital record of remotely sensed water quality trends and patterns in Florida Bay in an easy-to-use format. The interface to the satellite imagery will allow the CD-ROM to be used as a working management tool for documenting past-to-present water quality changes. To place the retrospective satellite observations in context with related field measurements, ancillary data sets have been acquired from the Florida Bay scientific and management communities. These data sets include spatial coverage data such as digital maps of seagrasses, bathymetry, and airborne-derived ocean color. Other data sets are location-specific time-series data of environmental indicators, including chlorophyll and nutrient concentrations, Secchi depth, total suspended solids, salinity, and wind speed and direction. A Java application on the CD-ROM allows the user to browse the satellite information and query image geophysical values.

Some examples of the geographic information system (GIS) digital vector coverages and ways in which these data sets can be integrated with reflectance imagery can be found here.
 
 

To request a copy of this CD-ROM click here. 

Near-real time reflectance image for Florida Bay from the NOAA-14 polar orbiting satellite. Images from other locations and dates are available from the Coastal Remote Sensing program at www.csc.noaa.gov/crs/composite/0day.

Another source of Florida Bay satellite imagery  from our partners at the USGS is also available.