Enviromental Study of Samborombon Bay Using Satellite Information

DOGLIOTTI, ANA I.; ALEJO C. SCARANO; FENOGLIO E. P.; BAVA J.

CABA

Simposio; 29th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Enviroment; 2002

International symposia on Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE) and Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE)

Samborombón Bay (30°S, 57°W), located on the southern boundary of the Rio de la Plata estuary, is a coastal basin. Its depth ranges from 2 to 5 meters, consequently it´s strongly influenced by external forces such as winds and tides, in particular tidal flow bordering Punta Rasa deeply affects the dynamic and hydrographic features of the entire bay. Physical characteristics of the waters such as: temperature, salinity and turbidity are influenced by La Plata River run off, seawater from the continental shelf, and continental water. The coast is nearly 200 km long and a large community of salt marshes characterizes it There are approximately 40,000 hectares of tidal wetlands forming an almost continuous band along the whole coastal line with an irregular width of 2 km to the north and nearly 30 km on the south. In addition there are a small fringes of marsh associated to the barrier-beach lagoon complex.One of the most important features of this bay (water mass and salt marshes) lies in the fact that it is the habitat of juvenile fish and the spawning ground of several species of river and marine water. They make extensive use of it during juvenile and/or adult periods of development. It is necessary to take into account that water masses and the intertidal zone are integral parts of the coastal ecosystem to fully understand the role of Samborombón bay as a nursery area. The objective of this work is to determine the main environmental characteristics of both components, which is an important step for the comprehension of this bay´s role.Taking into account that remote sensing has been an efficient tool for coastal monitoring, and considering that the components of the area under study have different spectral, radiometric, temporal and spatial characteristics, to accomplish the task of this work, information provided by different satellite systems was used. Thus different characteristics of the bay are identified and analyzed: a) on water environment, data provided by thermal and optical channels were used to estimate surface temperature and turbidity providing information related to the dynamics, thermal cycle of the bay and the influence of the main waters contributors and b) on wetland, only optical channels data were used and the main structures were mapped. In this way, not only the main environmental characteristics of the bay are determined but also the capability of each system for this type of study is discussed.