Overview

Aquatic ecosystems are essential for biodiversity, water resources, and human activities such as fisheries, tourism, and recreation. These environments also support critical ecological processes and provide natural barriers against coastal erosion. However, they face increasing pressures from pollution, habitat degradation, and changing environmental conditions, leading to issues such as declining water quality and habitat loss. EMITʻs spectral and spatial coverage provides a unique opportunity to enhance our understanding of algal blooms, wastewater runoff, and macrophyte detection in inland and nearshore coastal environments.

Wastewater Runoff

Linking Chemical Composition of Untreated Wastewater in Estuarine and Coastal Waters with Laboratory, In Situ, and EMIT Spaceborne Spectroscopy

Hundreds of millions of liters of untreated wastewater enter the Tijuana River annually, impacting communities on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Traditional monitoring is costly and limited, while satellite imaging offers broader coverage but struggles to detect bacteria directly. This project explores spectroscopic sensors to identify wastewater pollution as a proxy for bacterial presence. A distinct spectral feature around 620 nm strongly correlates with water quality data (R² ≥ 0.97, p < 0.01) across different resolutions, noise levels, field tests, and satellite imagery. Using EMIT hyperspectral satellite data, the project demonstrate wastewater plume mapping, highlighting the potential of EMIT for global monitoring of wastewater runoff.

Other team members not pictured: Eva Scrivner, University of Connecticut mel24004@uconn.edu

Algal Blooms

Harmful algal blooms pose significant ecological, economic, and public health risks, making reliable monitoring essential for early warning and management. EMIT’s hyperspectral capabilities and NASA CyAN’s targeted multispectral data offer complementary approaches to detecting algal bloom characteristics. This ongoing project aims to refine remote sensing techniques for algal bloom science, supporting more effective environmental monitoring and resource management.

Other team members not pictured: Carl Goodwin (EMIT Intern 2024, Monash University), Shawnell McFarlane (EMIT Intern 2023, Northwest Indian College)