Ocean colour remote sensing has transformed our ability to monitor complex interactions between physical and biological processes in surface waters. However, there are still fundamental challenges regarding the interpretation of ocean colour data, particularly in optically complex waters. Computer models are used to resolve the processes driving the formation of ocean colour signals.
The limiting factor is the quality of in situ optical measurements required to drive these models.
EcoSens will exploit a combination of new state-of-the-art instruments and build on recent progress with currently employed sensors to establish a comprehensive radiative transfer approach, robust enough to operate in the most challenging complex water types.
EcoSens consists of two main parts:
1) in situ measurements of IOPs in Norwegian coastal waters and fjords
2) Modelling the water-leaving radiance using the new information acquired from the measurements.
Adding to this, we will take water samples along with the optical measurements, as well as measuring size distributions, concentrations, conductivity and temperature.
We will attempt to answer the following central questions with the EcoSens project:
1: How do sediment plumes, rock flour and algal blooms affect the angular distribution of scattered light?
2: Can we develop improved atmospheric correction algorithms for operation in these optically complex waters?
ecosens.no 