Development and application of the HAB automatic monitoring system in the East China Sea

Abstract

Harmful algal blooms (HAB) is one of the most serious marine disasters, which not only reduce fishery production, deteriorates the marine environment, affects coastal tourist industry, but also cause human poison. The satellite remote sensing technology has the characteristics of large-scale, synchronized, low cost and rapid monitoring, it is become an important method for HAB observation. In this paper, we describe the HAB monitoring system based on remote sensing data which developed by the Second Institute of Oceanography, China. The system can achieve the whole procedure automatically from the satellite remote data acquirement and satellite image process, products generation, and it can automatically identify the HAB region using the spectral reflectance and inherent optical properties derived from remote sensing data. Currently, the National monitoring department has adopted this system for the operational monitoring of HAB in the East China Sea.