Analysis of the most important river plumes on the Atlantic and Mediterranean Iberian coast by means of satellite imagery
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1
Vigo University, Spain
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2
Aveiro University, Portugal
Rivers discharges cause the formation of buoyant plumes in the adjacent coastal area at their mouths, which are characterized by low-salinity water and controlled by outflow inertia, rotation (Coriolis) effects, buoyancy, wind, and tide forcing.
The turbid plumes influence the adjacent coastal area, since they control the patterns of nutrients, sediments and/or pollutants of fluvial origin on the coastal ocean and can promote strong physical and chemical changes on seawater. These changes affect the biological characteristics of the area, such as primary production, species composition, abundance and distribution of existing microorganism, which demonstrates its high ecological importance. The characterization of the most important river plumes along the Atlantic Iberian coast and the influence of the main forcing drivers (river discharge, wind and tide) on them, was carried out through the analysis of plume mean-state images calculated using water leaving radiance data (nLw555) obtained from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor onboard the Aqua satellite during 2003-2013. Satellite data are downloaded from Ocean Color web site (http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov). Daily high-resolution L1 files from MODIS-Aqua were processed through SeaDAS software. Composite images, interpolated to a regular pixel grid with an approximate resolution of 500m, were built for different synoptic conditions of river discharge, wind regimes and tide, in order to obtain a representative average plume image of each situation and river for the posterior analysis.
Results showed that the river discharge is the main forcing factor in the river plume extension. Wind effect is noticeable under high river discharge and tide is important for the estuarine outflow regimes although with some remarkable similarities and differences between the Atlantic rivers due to their intrinsic characteristics.
Keywords:
Atlantic Iberian plumes,
MODIS,
turbidity,
river discharge,
wind effect,
tide forcing
Conference:
IMMR | International Meeting on Marine Research 2014, Peniche, Portugal, 10 Jul - 11 Jul, 2014.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
BIODIVERSITY, CONSERVATION AND COASTAL MANAGEMENT
Citation:
Novoa
DF,
Mendes
R,
Rodriguez
MD,
Dias
J and
Gesteira
RG
(2014). Analysis of the most important river plumes on the Atlantic and Mediterranean Iberian coast by means of satellite imagery.
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
IMMR | International Meeting on Marine Research 2014.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2014.02.00080
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Received:
25 Apr 2014;
Published Online:
18 Jul 2014.
*
Correspondence:
Mr. Diego F Novoa, Vigo University, Ourense, Spain, diefernandez@uvigo.es