Remote Sensing

Broad expanses of coastal areas may be observed effectively by satellite. The Department of Bio-Optical Remote Sensing has developed methods by which certain characteristics of ocean water, such as the dispersion of light, transparency, concentration of phytoplankton or suspended matter, may be determined at an altitude of several hundred kilometres. These processes of evaluation have been of particular use to the European Space Agency (ESA) in the analysis and assessment of satellite images. They have, among other things, provided invaluable information on the occurrence of algal blooms („red tide“), the frequency of which may well be effected as a result of climatic change. The challenge consists in being able to correctly interpret optical signals from the ocean which have been altered, and thereby weakened, in passing through the atmosphere. For this reason innumerable specimens of sea water have been examined by the department to determine their optical quality. Researchers have simulated satellite signals by applying a model of the transmission of beams of light. In the end these applications provide important information about the environment, which researchers using other ecosystem models may well profit from.

The department’s second focus is the mapping and classifying of habitats and forms of sediment found in the Wadden Sea (the German Wattenmeer). This work is intended to provide guidelines for particularly sensitive areas of the coastal Watt and for the Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME, or the German Havariekommando) in planning and coordinating their efforts in enacting effective oil-pollution counter-measures at sea. Gathering data has been made possible as a result of extensive work in the field, numerous measurement flights, not to mention satellite observations, making charts available now with detailed information about the condition of such special habitats as eel grass meadows, mussel beds and the wintering grounds of migratory birds.