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You are here: UMCOHH Home > Core Facility: Remote Sensing Core Facility

Core Facility: Remote Sensing Core Facility: Remote Sensing and Surface Meteorology

Principal Investigators: Peter Minnett Ph.D.

Research Project Interactions: Toxic HABs, Recreational Microbes, and HAB Functional Genomics

The Remote Sensing Laboratory at RSMAS will provide real-time, or near-real-time, support for all three Research Projects. This will consist of geometrically corrected and geographically referenced imagery of ocean color, temperature, surface winds and waves in areas relevant to the Research Projects. These data will consist of measurements with a ground resolution of ~1km from two MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS.s) on the Aqua and Terra polar-orbiting satellites of the NASA Earth Science Enterprise, and other sensors with similar resolution as appropriate and available. Use will be made of additional high resolution (order ten meters) images from radiometers operating in the visible part of the spectrum, and from synthetic aperture radars (SARs) down-loaded at the new RSMAS ground station (CSTARS - Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing) which became operational in 2002. We will also provide surface meteorological data taken with RSMAS equipment in the vicinity of Biscayne Bay; additional meteorological data from the CMAN (Coastal-Marine Automated Network) Station on Fowey Rocks (25.59oN 80.10oW) at the eastern edge of Biscayne Bay, and rainfall distributions from the Miami National Weather Service Doppler Radar will also be captured. These data will drive the hydrodynamic model of Biscayne Bay in the Microbial Contamination Project. Within the Core Project, additional research will be undertaken to develop and refine algorithms for retrieving specific information relevant to Harmful Algal Blooms.