REMOTE SENSING OF ESTUARINE CIRCULATION DYNAMICS

MULTISPECTRAL AND COLOR AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND INFRARED IMAGERY OF NATURALLY OCCURRING WATER COLOR BOUNDARIES AND/OR DYE TRACER IMPLANTS HAVE BEEN USED SUCCESSFULLY IN THE STUDY OF TEMPORAL COASTAL AND ESTUARINE CIRULATION DYNAMICS. SEQUENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND HIGH-CONTRAST ENHANCEMENTS OF COLOR IMAGERY OF FRONTS SUCH AS FOAM LINES, CURRENT SHEARS, ARE USED TO CALCULATE AND PLOT DISPLACEMENTS AND VELOCITY VECTORS OF WATER MASSES ALONG THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST AND IN THE PATUXENT RIVER ESTUARY, MARYLAND. TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR INCORPORATION OF REMOTELY SENSED DATA WHICH ARE COLLECTED ON A TEMPORAL SCALE RANGING FROM MINUTES TO HOURS, WITH EXTENSIVE SURFACE TRUTH MEASUREMENTS TO DESCRIBE FURTHER THE COMPLEX NATURE OF ESTUARINE FLOW.