Physical Oceanographic Characterization is the technique used by physical and biological oceanographers to obtain large-scale synoptic data from satellites or aircraft. The advantage to using remote sensing is that it covers a larger geographic area more frequently than field sampling. Using satellite remote sensing data, COAST develops long term national and regional oceanographic trends (climatologies) to assess the nature and magnitude of our changing oceans, and to describe the complex interrelationships between ocean character, climate, and living marine resources that respond to this flux. Much of this work is done in partnership with CCMA's Biogeography Team who develop world-class spatially integrated assessments of coastal living resources and habitats.
This is a baseline characterization of the biodiversity and distribution of benthic communities in soft bottom habitats in Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries (MBNMS). Additional objectives include identification of habitat factors that govern species and community distributions, and assessment of natural and anthropogenic stressors that influence habitat quality and living resources. Read More ›
With the access to national (contiguous 48 states) coverage of SeaWiFS ocean color data, we have the potential to describe chlorophyll and turbidity patterns with a seasonal update. The goal is to produce a product that seasonally (and ultimately monthly) shows the US coastal turbidity and chlorophyll conditions of the last season. Read More ›
South Florida is a dynamic shallow water ecosystem, and this project is focusing on two different aspects of the ecosystem. The first part on the project is observing seagrass trends within Florida bay. The second part of the project will focus on turbidity observations made from SeaWiFS. This project is designed to test the feasibility of whether the decline in water quality is due to water within the keys and the adjacent Florida Bay or from water from the west Florida shelf being advected down the coast to the keys. Read More ›
