Coastwatch provides high quality satellite imagery on water turbidity
(Modis), sea surface temperatures and cholorophyl a which is indicative of the density of phytoplankton in the water.

Post Katrina GIS for monitoring and recovery from Stennis, MS

• NOAA CoastWatch provides near real-time high resolution imagery covering the U.S. coastal ocean from a number of operational and research environmental satellites.
  • Access ocean remote sensing data and products available from CoastWatch.
  • For high resolution NOAA processed MODIS images of Katrina and Rita impacted coastal areas
  • High resolution ocean color images from SeaWiFS are available routinely for areas in the Gulf of Mexico as part of the NOAA Harmful Algal Bloom Forecast System.
  • Point of contact: Kent H. Hughes, ORA/ORAD, 301.763.8102 x171.
• NESDIS Office of Research and Applications (ORA) in partnership with the National Ice Center has been aiding the Katrina/Rita response effort by providing pre- and post-landfall imagery obtained from the Radarsat-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and the ENVISAT Advanced SAR (ASAR) to
  NOAA HAZMAT and other organizations responding to the hurricanes. Imagery is being converted to geotiff format and NESDIS/ORA personnel are aiding in the analysis of the imagery for oil spills, marine debris, and determination of coastal and infrastructure changes. Examples of what NOAA HAZMAT has put out are attached.
  • September 25, 2005 06:20 Central Time RADARSAT –1 Preliminary Analysis
  • September 25, 2005 Comparison of RADARSAT-1 Imagery for Galveston Bay NOAA
  • Point of contact: William Pichel, ORA/ORAD, 301.763.8102 x166