In-water light attenuation and remote sensing of coastal waters and riverine ecosystems

该应用请求支持我的沿海沃茨水域和河流生态系统遥感研究计划，重点关注三个相关主题：（i）水中光谱光场、水体光学成分和水面反射率之间的关系;（ii）开发基于卫星的光学模型来量化水生生态系统中的有机和无机物质;热带湿地的碳库和水动力学。在光学复杂的沿海和河流沃茨，不仅浮游植物衰减光，这也发生由于溶解的有机物和悬浮的无机物（它们一起被称为光学水成分）。这些成分的不同混合使这些沃茨变得复杂，因此很难利用卫星图像来估计它们的浓度。光如何被不同的成分衰减，以及可用光的强度和光谱质量如何影响成分的分布，是我的项目在世界不同地区研究的重要问题。我正在研究两个全球重要的生态系统：以加拿大西海岸的格鲁吉亚海峡为代表的沿海系统;以及以巴西的亚马逊河为代表的河流系统。拟议研究的结果将提高我们对水生过程的理解，如浮游植物的分布和生产力，水分层，水质，水生生态，以及土地利用对沿海和河流生态系统的影响。申请的资金将主要用于支持一名博士和两名硕士学生，以及一些实地考察，分析和实验室用品。

This application requests support for my research program in the remote sensing of coastal waters and riverine ecosystems, with a focus on three related topics: (i) relationships between the in-water spectral light field, water optical constituents, and water surface reflectance; (ii) development of satellite-based optical models to quantify organic and inorganic matter in aquatic ecosystems; and (iii) carbon reservoirs and hydrodynamics of tropical wetlands. In optically complex costal and riverine waters, not only phytoplankton attenuates light, this also occurs due to dissolved organic and suspended inorganic matter (all together they are referred to as optical water constituents). The varying mix of these constituents makes these waters complex and therefore it is difficult to use satellite imagery to estimate concentrations of them. How light is attenuated by different constituents and how the intensity and spectral quality of available light affects the distribution of the constituents are important questions that my program is researching in different regions of the world. I am studying two globally important ecosystems: coastal systems represented by the Strait of Georgia on the west coast of Canada; and riverine systems represented by the Amazonian rivers in Brazil. The results of the proposed research will improve our understanding of aquatic processes such as phytoplankton distribution and productivity, water stratification, water quality, aquatic ecology, and impacts of land use on costal and riverine ecosystems. The requested funds will dominantly support one PhD and two MSc students, as well as some of the fieldwork, analysis, and lab supplies.