Science Meetings

Night-Time Marine Pollution Over Large Coastal Cities Analysis With DMSP-OLS Satellite Images.
Cotlier, C., Vicioso, B., Pacino, C., Balparda, L., Lãpez, D., and Cotlier, G. (17-Nov-15)

Due to technical issues in NIRST and HSC SAC-D sensors that did not allow developing research in urban heat island and heat focus detection, an alternative sensor was used, DMSP-OLS, in order to research in relation of urban night light with economic activity, starting with calibrations aspects like intercalibration, multitemporal filtering and calibration to radiance, and a new line of research: marine night-time pollution. Marine light pollution could be defined as "degradation of photic habitat by artificial light" (Verheijhen, 1985), disturbing natural organisms behavior when are exposed on wrong place, time and intensity (Deplege et al, 2010). Coastal urban areas have experienced worldwide a rapid population growth due to global economic development posing a threat to biodiversity and the surrounding ecosystems.

A methodology is presented to model urban night light combining satellite imagery with geographic information systems (GIS) and vector shape data such as bathymetry, coastal boundaries and city limits, allowing to find out the distance that night-time light goes over the coastal areas (as far as 32 kilometers over the sea surface). Comparison of collected and processed data is presented to initiate characterization of 6 study cases selected around the world for their urban characteristics and geographic location.