Applications of ERTS Imagery and Shipboard Observations to Coastal Environments Studies. Part I - Hypersaline Environments. Part II - Coastal Circulation Analysis

Work done during the 1974 included a study of the wetting cycles on tidal and supra-tidal coastal areas of Baja California in arid climatic conditions. Progress on ERTS (LANDSAT) imagery analysis as a basis for describing coastal water circulation patterns includes collection of oceanographic data on water transparency and suspended sediment concentrations from shipboard on the date of satellite passage and comparison of patterns with general circulation as defined by standard oceanographic surveys (source data is from California Cooperative Fisheries Project and from field work aboard R. V. VELERO IV of the University of Southern California). Data show that the satellite imagery gives a higher degree of detail than the ship observations due to the time required for ship traverses and stations and the consequent limitations of resolution.