Airborne Measurements of the Columbia River Plume Andy Jessup and Bill Plant APL-UW Determine Plume Location/Characteristics –SST –Water Type/Sediment Load –Waves (dir. spectra), roughness features Identify features of interest (fronts, IW)
Airborne Sensors Infrared –Surface Temperature –Interpolated maps from calibrated radiometer –High resolution imagery (FY08) Microwave –Surface Velocity / Current –Surface Roughness / Waves Ocean Color / Hyperspectral (FY08) –Water type / Sediment load –Hyperspectral radiometer –Color Video Camera using RGB separation
Infrared Imagery and SST Maps 30 km x 30 km, 5 km spacing 2-3 hours flight time O(100 m)
Seasonal Location of Plume Traditional View [Hickey et al., 2005] Surface Salinity
40 km x 40 km Survey Area [Hickey et al., 2005]
Aerial Photographs
Surface Wave Breaking Due to Internal Waves along Plume Front [Nash & Moum, OSU web site]
Conclusion Practical daily survey area –40 km x 40 km –4-6 hours Plume has local and regional effect –Local scale: roughly 40 km x 40 km –Regional 50 km offshore, 100 km along shore Coordinated daily aircraft survey –Map plume characteristics –Identify features of interest