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Frontiers of Earth Science

ISSN 2095-0195

ISSN 2095-0209(Online)

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Front. Earth Sci.    2016, Vol. 10 Issue (2) : 378-388    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-015-0528-1
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Multi-sensor monitoring of Ulva prolifera blooms in the Yellow Sea using different methods
Qing XU1,2,3,Hongyuan ZHANG1,2,*(),Yongcun CHENG3
1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Coast Ocean Resources Development and Environment Security, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
2. College of Harbour, Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
3. Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23508, USA
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Abstract

The massive Ulva (U.) prolifera bloom in the Yellow Sea was first observed and reported in summer of 2008. After that, the green tide event occurred every year and influenced coastal areas of Jiangsu and Shandong provinces of China. Satellite remote sensing plays an important role in monitoring the floating macroalgae. In this paper, U. prolifera patches are detected from quasi-synchronous satellite images with different spatial resolution, i.e., Aqua MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), HJ-1A/B (China Small Satellite Constellation for Environment and Disaster Monitoring and Forecasting), CCD (Charge-Coupled Device), Landsat 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager), and ENVISAT (Environmental Satellite) ASAR (Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar) images. Two comparative experiments are performed to explore the U. prolifera monitoring abilities by different data using detection methods such as NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) with different thresholds. Results demonstrate that spatial resolution is an important factor affecting the extracted area of the floating macroalgae. Due to the complexity of Case II sea water characteristics in the Yellow Sea, a fixed threshold NDVI method is not suitable for U. prolifera monitoring. A method with adaptive ability in time and space, e.g., the threshold selection method proposed by Otsu (1979), is needed here to obtain accurate information on the floating macroalgae.
Keywords Ulva prolifera      the Yellow Sea      MODIS      CCD      OLI      SAR      NDVI     
Corresponding Author(s): Hongyuan ZHANG   
Just Accepted Date: 12 August 2015   Issue Date: 05 April 2016
 Cite this article:   
Qing XU,Hongyuan ZHANG,Yongcun CHENG. Multi-sensor monitoring of Ulva prolifera blooms in the Yellow Sea using different methods[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2016, 10(2): 378-388.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-015-0528-1
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2016/V10/I2/378
Date Time (UTC) Satellite/sensor Spatial resolution/m Swath/km
2013.6.24 5:20 Aqua/MODIS 250 2,330
2:12 HJ-1A/B/CCD 30 360
2:38 Landsat 8/OLI 30 185
2008.6.28 5:05 Aqua/MODIS 250 2,330
1:55 ENVISAT/ASAR 30 100
Tab.1  Basic information of satellite images
Fig.1  Aqua MODIS RGB (1, 2, 1 bands) images of the U. prolifera bloom in the Yellow Sea acquired at 5:05 UTC on 28 June 2008 (a) and 5:20 UTC on 24 June 2013 (b). The floating macroalgae are shown as green patches (marked with red circles) on the images.
Fig.2  Sub-images of three quasi-synchronous optical satellite images of U. prolifera bloom in the northern Yellow Sea. (a) Aqua MODIS image acquired at 5:20 UTC on 24 June 2013; (b) HJ-1A/B CCD image acquired at 2:12 UTC on 24 June 2013; (c) Landsat 8 OLI image acquired at 2:38 UTC on 24 June 2013. The 6 sub-regions A?F are marked with red polygons.
Fig.3  Sub-images of U. prolifera bloom in Qingdao coastal areas: (a) Aqua MODIS image acquired at 5:05 UTC on 28 June 2008; (b) ENVISAT ASAR image acquired at 1:55 UTC on 28 June 2008. The 5 sub-regions A?E are marked with red polygons.
Sensor Spatial resolution/m NDVI Method Region A Region B Region C Region D Region E Region F
HJ-1A/B CCD 30 T=0 13.50 62.60 44.86 51.86 34.17 83.12
T=0.1 5.15 25.93 35.09 25.53 18.10 33.55
T=0.2 3.03 11.58 16.86 14.20 12.04 18.80
OTSUT 3.37 11.34 11.97 10.45 10.88 15.06
Landsat 8 OLI 30 T=0 13.66 62.24 45.66 42.38 21.53 43.43
T=0.1 4.63 22.23 26.97 19.59 15.48 29.10
T=0.2 3.89 18.14 20.78 15.43 13.63 24.53
OTSUT 3.71 16.28 17.22 13.00 12.70 23.67
Aqua MODIS 250 T=0 8.50 45.19 48.69 33.94 29.69 57.63
T=0.1 6.13 32.63 38.19 24.13 22.50 37.19
T=0.2 4.75 22.63 31.25 17.81 16.44 19.63
OTSUT 5.88 28.75 27.38 16.50 18.00 35.00
Tab.2  Area (km2) of U. prolifera patches extracted from optical satellite images on 24 June 2013
Fig.4  The U. prolifera monitoring results in sub-region F on HJ-1A/B CCD image: (a) NDVI image, (b) detected U. prolifera (white color pixels) using NDVI method with T=0, (c) T=0.1, (d) T=0.2, and (e) OTSU threshold.
Fig.5  The U. prolifera monitoring results in sub-region F on Landsat 8 OLI image: (a) NDVI image, (b) detected U. prolifera (white color pixels) using NDVI method with T=0, (c) T=0.1, (d) T=0.2, and (e) OTSU threshold.
Fig.6  The U. prolifera monitoring results in sub-region F on Aqua MODIS image: (a) NDVI image, (b) detected U. prolifera (white color pixels) using NDVI method with T=0, (c) T=0.1, (d) T=0.2, and (e) OTSU threshold.
Fig.7  Comparison of U. prolifera area (km2) calculated from HJ-1A/B CCD, Landsat8 OLI, and Aqua MODIS images in region A-F using NDVI method with OTSU threshold.
Area ratio Region A Region B Region C Region D Region E Region F
MODIS/CCD 1.7 2.5 2.3 1.6 1.7 2.3
MODIS/OLI 1.6 1.8 1.6 1.3 1.4 1.5
Tab.3  Ratio between macroalgae areas extracted from Aqua MODIS and that from HJ1-A/B CCD and Landsat 8 OLI images using NDVI method with OTSU threshold
Region A Region B Region C Region D Region E Region F
HJ-1A/B CCD/ km2 3.37 11.34 11.97 10.45 10.88 15.06
Landsat 8 OLI/ km2 3.71 16.28 17.22 13.00 12.70 23.67
Diffrence/% 10.1 43.6 43.8 24.4 16.8 57.2
Tab.4  Area (km2) of U. prolifera patches extracted from HJ1-A/B CCD and Landsat 8 OLI images with the same spatial resolution (30 m) using NDVI method with OTSU threshold. The difference in the table is the percentage of the area difference divided by the area from CCD
Fig.8  Area of U. prolifera patches calculated from HJ-1A/B CCD and Landsat 8 OLI images before (resolution of 30 m) and after resample (resolution of 250 m) using NDVI method with (a) T=0, (b) T=0.1, (c) T=0.2, and (d) OTSU threshold.
Fig.9  The U. prolifera monitoring results in sub-region E on MODIS and SAR images acquired on 28 June 2008: (a) MODIS NDVI image, (b) detected U. prolifera (white color pixels) from MODIS using NDVI method with OTSU threshold, (c) SAR NRCS image, (d) detected U. prolifera (white color pixels) from SAR using OTSU threshold.
Sensor Spatial Resolution/m Region A Region B Region C Region D Region E
ENVISATASAR 30 0.86 0.91 0.22 0.38 2.88
250 (After resampling) 1.06 1.13 0.31 0.44 3.31
Aqua MODIS 250 1.94 1.75 0.63 1.25 4.94
Tab.5  Area (km2) of U. prolifera patches extracted from Aqua MODIS and ENVISAT ASAR images on 28 June 2008
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