Y. Sakuno, 2007. Anoxic water distribution in Hiroshima Bay. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 50 (Proceedings of the 9th International Coastal Symposium), 1023 – 1028. Gold Coast, Australia, ISSN 0749.0208

The objective of this research is to estimate the summertime distribution of anoxic water in the northern part of Hiroshima Bay using thermal infrared (TIR) sensor images captured by the ASTER (90-m resolution) and MODIS (1-km resolution) sensors aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites (launched in 1999 and 2002, respectively). The known strong correlation between (i) the difference (dT) in surface water temperature (Ts) and water temperature at the sea bottom (Tb) (index of stratification) and (ii) the summertime dissolved oxygen at a sea bottom (DOb) was used to estimate the distribution of anoxic water from the satellite/TIR images. This relationship was also verified from field data obtained in August from 1994 to 2003 (10 years). In addition, Ts can now be estimated from satellite/TIR data because of the strong correlation between Ts and dT. The relationship between the radiance of these satellites/TIR data and Ts showed a very strong correlation. The DOb distributions estimated from ASTER and MODIS data using these relations was mostly in agreement with observed distributions. These results demonstrate that satellite TIR data are an effective tool in estimating the distribution of anoxic water.