EarthView–Landsat Confirms Spatial Extent of Wind Tower Sediment Plume
USGS EarthView of the Week
Landsat & Sentinel-2A work together to track sediment plume in the North Sea
EarthViews is a continuing series in which we share a USGS Image of the Week featuring the USGS/NASA Landsat program. From the artistry of Earth imagery to natural and human-caused land change over time, check back every Friday to finish your week with a visual flourish!
The EarthView: Landsat Confirms Spatial Extent of Wind Tower Sediment Plumes
Description:
Earth observation satellites help researchers confirm the presence of large plumes containing suspended sediments extending from hundreds of wind towers in the coastal waters of the North Sea southeast of England.
Images acquired by both the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, as well as the MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) on the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2A, show the turbid wakes of individual wind turbines. The wakes are 30 meters to 150 meters wide, several kilometers in length, and change direction depending on tidal currents. The wakes from two boats are evident at the left of the Landsat image. A large cloud is part of the left side of the Sentinel image. The improved radiometric quality of Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2A are valuable in this kind of application.
These waters can be highly productive and provide nursery grounds for fish. A study in Remote Sensing of Environment says researchers are studying how the plumes of suspended sediment may impact substrate fauna, seabirds, and marine mammal environments. The source of the suspended sediment remains unclear.
Hungry for some science, but you don’t have time for a full-course research plate? Then check out USGS Science Snippets, our snack-sized science series that focuses on the fun, weird, and fascinating stories of USGS science.