Remote sensing and GIS for the modeling of persistent organic pollutant in the marine environment

The characterization of the marine environment plays an important role in the understanding of the dynamics affecting the transport, fate and persistence (TFP) of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). This work is part of a project funded by the Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca. The aim of the project is the assessment of the TFP of POPs in the Mediterranean sea. The analysis will be carried out at regionalmesoscale (central Mediterranean), and at local spatial scale considering different Italian test sites (the Delta of the Po River, the Venice Lagoon and the estuary of the Rio Nocella). The first step of this work involves the implementation of GIS geodatabases for the definition of the input dataset. The geodatabases were populated with MERIS and MODIS level 2 and level 3 products of Chlorophyll-a (CHL-a), Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM), Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT), Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC), Particulate Inorganic Carbon (PIC), Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) and Sea Surface Temperature (SST). The spatial scale (central Mediterranean sea) and the reference system (Plate Carrée projection) have been imposed as a constraint for the geodatabases. Four geodatabases have been implemented, two for MODIS and two for MERIS products with a monthly, seasonal and climatological temporal scale (2002 -2013). Here, we present a first application of a methodology aimed to identify vulnerable areas to POPs accumulation and persistence. The methodology allowed to assess the spatial distribution of the CHL-a in the central Mediterranean sea. The chlorophyll concentration is related to the amount of nutrients in the water and therefore provides an indicator of the potential presence of POPs. A pilot area of 300 x 200 km located in the North Adriatic sea has been initially considered. The seasonal and climatological MODIS and MERIS CHL-a variability were retrieved and compared with in-situ forcing parameters, i.e. Po River discharge rates and wind data. Study outlooks include a better accuracy of the distribution of the vulnerable areas achieved through the use of additional parameters (CDOM, SST, POC), and an assessment of the contribution of the contaminants by atmospheric dry deposition to the marine environment.