Harmful Algal Bloom

SPOT-6 (Système Pour l’Observation de la Terre) is an optical satellite built by Astrium and was successfully launched on September 9, 2012 with SPOT 7 launched on June 30, 2014.
The new generation SPOT-6 and 7 optical satellites feature technological improvements and advanced system performance allowing continuity in the SPOT constellation through to 2024. It is capable of imaging the Earth with a resolution of 1.5 meter panchromatic and 6 meter multispectral (blue, green, red, near-IR) and will offer imaging products to customers in defense, agriculture, deforestation, environmental monitoring, coastal surveillance, engineering, oil, gas and mining industries.
The ability to respond accordingly to changing weather conditions, a reduced timeline for urgent tasking requests and an acquisition capacity of 3 million sq km per satellite shows an increased data capacity and simplified data access, major improvements in this generation of SPOT satellites.
SPOT-6 and…

Launched in December 2011, Pleiades is a constellation of two very-high-resolution satellites capable of acquiring imagery of any point on the globe in under 24 hours for civil and military users.
Pleiades has been observing and mapping Earth’s surface at a resolution of just 70 cm every day since December 2011. Comprising the Pleiades 1A and Pleiades 1B satellites, this space imaging system complements the capabilities of the SPOT satellites, which have a wider field of view than Pleiades but lower spatial resolution. What’s more, as Pleiades 1A and 1B are in the same orbit, together they can image anywhere on Earth in less than 24 hours. Pleiades imagery is used for both civil and military applications, for example to track urban expansion, monitor the planet’s active volcanoes or assist road and railway routing, and to locate adversaries’ military installations for mission planning. Pleiades’ key asset is an extremely sensitive optical…

The ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) spacecraft OceanSat-2 is envisaged to provide service continuity for the operational users of OCM (Ocean Color Monitor) data as well as to enhance the application potential in other areas.
OceanSat-2 will play an important role in forecasting the onset of the monsoon and its subsequent advancement over the Indian subcontinent and over South-East Asia. - The OceanSat-2 mission was approved by the Government of India on July 16, 2005.

Coverage of applications:
- Sea-state forecast: waves, circulation and ocean MLD (Mixed Layer Depth)
- Monsoon and cyclone forecast - medium and extended range
- Observation of Antarctic sea ice
- Fisheries and primary production estimation
- Detection and monitoring of phytoplankton blooms
- Study of sediment dynamics

Instruments:
OCM (Ocean Color Monitor)
OSCAT (…

UK-DMC2 is based on the SSTL-100 satellite platform and was launched in 2009 for the commercial imaging company, DMCii (a subsidiary of SSTL). It provides high resolution (22m) imagery from a sun-synchronous orbit over very large areas (650km swath, 2000km along track), with a daily revisit to global targets.
The UK-DMC2 satellite carries a multispectral optical instrument with a spatial resolution of 22 m with three spectral bands (red, green, NIR) and a wide swath of more than 600 km. UK-DMC2 operates within the Disaster Monitoring Constellation, the first Earth observation constellation of low cost small satellites providing daily images for applications including global disaster monitoring. The Disaster Monitoring Constellation is coordinated by DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) for disaster response within the International Charter: Space & Major Disasters.

Instrument: SLIM6-22
- compact imager with 22m GSD at 686km orbital height…

Aqua, Latin for water, is a NASA Earth Science satellite mission named for the large amount of information that the mission is collecting about the Earth's water cycle. The Aqua mission is a part of the NASA-centered international Earth Observin System (EOS). Aqua was formerly named EOS PM, signifying its afternoon equatorial crossing time.
Aqua was launched on May 4, 2002, and has six Earth-observing instruments on board, collecting a variety of global data sets. Aqua was originally developed for a six-year design life but has now far exceeded that original goal and is expected to be operating into successfully into the early 2020s. It continues transmitting high-quality data from four of its six instruments, AIRS, AMSU, CERES, and MODIS, and reduced quality data from a fifth instrument, AMSR-E. The sixth Aqua instrument, HSB, collected approximately nine months of high quality data but failed in February 2003.

Instruments:
Atmospheric Infrared…

The government-owned Landsat 7 was successfully launched on April 15, 1999, from the Western Test Range of Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a Delta-II expendable launch vehicle. The Earth observing instrument on Landsat 7, the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), replicates the capabilities of the highly successful Thematic Mapper instruments on Landsats 4 and 5.
Landsat 7 is the most accurately calibrated Earth-observing satellite, i.e., its measurements are extremely accurate when compared to the same measurements made on the ground.  Landsat 7’s sensor has been called “the most stable, best characterized Earth observation instrument ever placed in orbit.”  Landsat 7’s rigorous calibration standards have made it the validation choice for many coarse-resolution sensors.
Considered a calibration-triumph, the Landsat 7 mission went flawlessly until May 2003 when a hardware component failure left…

Los estuarios son cuerpos de agua donde el agua dulce de los ríos y arroyos se encuentra con el agua del mar. Las aguas costeras y estuarinas son importantes para los humanos, pues son hábitats altamente productivos que albergan una variedad de peces y fauna. Estos entornos también proporcionan recursos, beneficios económicos y servicios ecosistémicos.Tomando esto en cuenta, la calidad del agua en estas zonas costeras y estuarinas es de gran importancia. Esta es altamente influenciada por el flujo de nutrientes y sedimentos provenientes de fuentes terrestres. El flujo de nitrógeno y fósforo en particular a aguas costeras y estuarinas promueve el crecimiento de floraciones algales e hipoxia en el agua, viéndose severamente afectadas especies bénticas como peces, moluscos y crustáceos. La calidad del agua en los estuarios también depende de varios factores como su tamaño, ubicación, uso de tierras costeras, calidad de la escorrentía de agua dulce y los efectos de la marea oceánica.…

Estuaries are water bodies where freshwater from rivers and streams meets with seawater. Coastal and estuarine waters are important to humans as they are highly productive habitats supporting a variety of fish and wildlife. These environments also provide resources, economic benefits, and ecosystem services. That being said, the water quality of these coastal and estuarine areas is of great importance. This is heavily influenced by the flow of nutrients and sediment from land-based sources. The flow of nitrogen and phosphorus in particular enhances algal bloom and hypoxia in the water, highly affecting benthic creatures like fish, shellfish, and crustaceans. Water quality in estuaries also depends on several factors such as their size, location, coastal land use, quality of freshwater runoff, and tidal effects from the sea.

Remote sensing observations from Aqua/MODIS have enabled us to monitor coastal and estuarine water…