POSTER Session 4

HYPERSPECTRAL PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICATOR ANALOGS ACROSS TAXA OF BROWN ALGAE

Optical remote sensing at various spatial resolutions has been used to observe floating macroalgae. Fine spatial resolution sensors on Landsat, Sentinel-2, and PlanetScope support sustained observing of canopy forming kelps, including taxa within the genera Macrocystis, Nereocystis, and Ecklonia, as well as the pelagic floating seaweed Sargassum. Coarse spatial resolution sensors are capable of observing large rafts of Sargassum, which inhabits open-ocean environs often omitted from fine spatial resolution observatories. Recent advances in spectral resolution are anticipated to improve target discrimination, while enabling new opportunities for biochemical characterizations. Here we assess opportunities to leverage hyperspectral observations of brown algae—a class including canopy-forming kelps and Sargassum—to extract additional information precursory to biomass accumulation. This approach may provide more contemporaneous indicators of spatial abiotic drivers than changes in abundance alone. Determinations of physiological condition from hyperspectral imagery are anticipated because brown algae lack the chlorophyll b pigment, facilitating quantification of spectral anomalies associated with chlorophyll a red-domain absorption. Previously, hyperspectral field and airborne observations yielded inference of Macrocystis net primary production and frond age. We evaluate the potential to transfer similar approaches to other taxa of brown algae by leveraging recently collected field observations of hyperspectral reflectance with supporting laboratory characterizations. Our studies are based on spectral capabilities of hyperspectral airborne and satellite ocean observatories.

Henry Houskeeper, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5848-5440

Dennis McGillicuddy, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA, [email protected]

Chuanmin Hu, University of South Florida, USA, [email protected]

Albertus Smit, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, [email protected]

Tom Bell, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA, [email protected]

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