Remote sensing of surface waters in Ireland

Abstract

An implementation of the WFD requires all surface waters in the EU to achieve at least good status; this requirement has not been achieved in Ireland. Just over 30% of transitional waters and 79% of coastal waters were satisfactory at good or high status. Irish transitional and coastal (TraC) waters are threatened by the synergistic effects of multiple environmental pressures such as nutrient enrichment, oxygen depletion and acidification. The overarching aim of this research is to assess a potential use of chlorophyll-a Remotely Sensed (RS) products to inform and improve Irish TraC water monitoring programme under WFD. In this research, the accuracy of level-3 and -4 processed chlorophyll-a concentrations derived from satellite observations of water colour has been analysed for Irish TraC waters. In total four datasets derived from four missions and for four retrieval algorithms have been inter-compared and validated against in-situ data on various temporal and spatial scales. The research shows that temporal and spatial coverage of RS data is very good in overall and VIIRS provides the most accurate set of chlorophyll-a concentrations in Irish TraC waters. The chlorophyll-a data derived from remote sensing observations have a potential to complement the TraC water monitoring and improve the current programme. The outcomes of this research are immensely important for surface water monitoring programme and water quality, and as such to policy makers, waters management bodies, scientists and local communities.