Monitoring with satelital images in Patos lagoon

PAGOT M; RODRIGUEZ A; HILLMAN G; CORRAL M; ORONA C; NIEMCHESKY F

JOURNAL OF COASTAL RESEARCH

Coastal Education & Research Foundation

Lugar: Florida; Año: 2007 vol. 47 p. 115 - 129

0749-0208

In this paper, results of digital processing of satellite images of Los Patos Lagoon are presented. Suspended matter distribution is used as conservative traces; additionally, circulation pattern and its temporal evolution have been  characterized. The process involve the fitting of an empirical relation function between digital values of intensitive for selected bands of the spectra (optical properties) and the measured values in situ for the corresponding satellite visite data. Field campaigns include measurements of suspended matter, surface temperature, wind direction and velocity, during 1999 and 2000 inside the lagoon.  The lagoon area cover near 10,360 km², with a main length of 250 Km of NE-SW direction, and 40 km wide. The methodology applies algorithms widely used in remote sensing. First, maps of spatial distribution of selected parameters were generated; after that, the boundaries were extracted, to define areas with constant reflectivity associated to isoconcentration of suspended matter; and zones of equal temperature (isothermal). Images with different hydrologic time series were evaluated including high, medium and low discharges from tributaries. This allow to identify plumes of rives, its extension, evolution and general circulation of different water mass  inside Patos lagoon.