Cyprus Ocean Remote Sensing - Frederick University

Cyprus Ocean Remote Sensing
George Zodiatis, Yianna Samuel-Rhoads,
Dmitry Soloviev, Dan Hayes,
Gregory Konnaris and Xenia Panayidou
Cyprus Oceanography Centre
University of Cyprus
Website: http://www.oceanography.ucy.ac.cy

Outline
OC-UCY
CYCOFOS description
CYCOFOS ocean remote sensing
Sea Surface Temperature
Chlorophyll-a
Zooplankton Egg Rate
Oil Spill Detection and Modelling
Conclusion

Introduction
In 2003, the Cyprus Oceanography Centre
was established after the merge of the
Oceanography Laboratory operated within
the Department of Fisheries and of the
newly Computational Oceanography Group
activated at the University of Cyprus.
In 2008, the Cyprus Oceanography Centre
became part of the School of Physical
Applied Science of the University of Cyprus
following a decision of the Cyprus Ministerial
Board for the consolidation of the Center.

Mission
Mission of Cyprus Oceanographic Center is to:
contribute through research in the increase of the
scientific knowledge in the Eastern Mediterranean,
improve and develop various components of
operational oceanography in the region,
operate the Cyprus Coastal Ocean Forecasting and
Observing System (CYCOFOS), in cooperation with
operational ocean forecasting networks in Europe,
the Mediterranean (MOON), within the scopes of
EuroGOOS, MedGOOS and GMES,
demonstrate, assist and provide information on the
marine environment to the decision makers and to the
public,
offer consultant services to other government (such
as search and rescue operations, oil spill pollution,
pelagic fisheries, etc) and private sectors.

Research Directions
At present the main research directions of the
Cyprus Oceanography Centre are:
Numerical modeling : circulation, sea state, dispersion
Remote sensing : in-situ and satellite
Monitoring : coastal and offshore oceanographic cruises
Operational Oceanography: Improvement and development
of monitoring and forecasting systems of CYCOFOS
Climatic Changes: T, S rise in the Levantine Basin
Data management and information: Dedicated
oceanographic data and marine metadata bases.
Biological Oceanography: estimate zooplankton
productivity using satellite SST and CHL, collect
zooplankton samples from Cyprus and using zooscan
instrument identify and count the organisms.

An operational coastal ocean
forecasting and observing
system has been developed in
Cyprus and has been
operational since early 2002.
The system is called CYCOFOS
and is a component of the
EuroGOOS and part of MOON.

CYCOFOS satellite remote sensing
CYCOFOS HRPT ground receiving station has been providing regular (daily) NOAA-AVHRR
SST images of the Levantine Basin and of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
CYCOFOS satellite remote sensing module at the OC-UCY process regularly (daily) satellite
data for:
• Sea Surface Temperature
• Chlorophyll-a
• Light Attenuation
• Sea surface zooplakton
• Sea surface temperature fronts
• Detection for oil slicks
For oil spill detection
• MODIS images are obtained through NASA LAADS (Level 1 Atmosphere Archive &
Distribution System)
• SAR (ENVISAT & RADARSAT1) images through EMSA CleanSeaNet

CYCOFOS Ocean Remote sensing
Example of SST image from the CYCOFOS HRPT ground receiving station.

CYCOFOS Ocean Remote sensing
Example of SST image from the CYCOFOS using MODIS Aqua data

31
29
27
25
23
21
19
17
15
SST (°C)
37° N
30° N
37° N
30° N
37° N
30° N
28°
E
1996 1997 1998
2000 2001 2002
2004 2005 2006
37° E 28° E 37° E 28° E 37° E
28° E 37° E
Annual sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies across the
Levantine Basin from 1996-2006.
6/5/1996
12/5/1996
Example of AVHRR SST images for studying climate change
21/10/1996
30/10/1996
6/5/1997
12/5/1997
28/10/1997
4/11/1997
24/07/1998
2/8/1998
12/1/1999
19/01/1999
14/04/1999
21/04/1999
11/5/2000
SST PSAL
Average SST and PSAL from the first 10m
depth during CYBO cruises, 1996 to 1999.
1/9/2000
11/5/2001
29/8/2001
31/5/2002
31/8/2002
24/5/2003
25/8/2003
10/5/2004
25/8/2004
13/9/2005
17/5/2006
39.6
39.4
39.2
39.0
38.8
38.6
+2__
+1__
1999
0__
-1__
2003
-2__
Summer T/S diagram
2003-2006
PSAL (P.S.U)
SST Anomaly (°C)

Example of AVHRR SST images for studying climate change

CYCOFOS flow model:
Validation & Inter-comparison
Models – remote sensing SST,
for September 2004, active mode
Models-ADCP currents
Online Validation Model-Satellite

Statistical Observation of CYCOFOS
SST images
Total received and processed Images: 1945
Total Images Uploaded on the CYCOFOS Web : 1714

CYCOFOS Ocean Remote sensing
Example of Zooplankton from
MODIS Aqua data
Example of Chlorophyll-a from
MODIS Aqua data

Example of calculating zooplankton egg production rate from
SST and Chlorophyll-a
Zooplankton egg
production rates are
calculated using NOAA-
AVHRR SST data and
MODIS Chlorophyll-a data.

CYCOFOS Ocean Remote Sensing
Example of detection of oil slicks using MODIS and SAR images
SAR image
23/06/2007 11:10 UTC
MODIS Image
23/06/2007 07:57 UTC

EMSA and the Levantine Decision Support System
(LEV DESS), a GMES Marine Security Service
CYCOFOS CYCOFOS waves SKIRON
On-line dedicated
database for LEV DESS
Request from
response agencies
(CyDMC, REMPEC,
others)
Outputs
Ocean forcing data
MEDSLIK
Online Outputs
EMSA warning reports
to MS agencies
EMSA CleanSeaNet
images
EMSA CleanSeaNet 2
images

Pre-pilot phase: Oil spill predictions following
EMSA warning reports
On the 18th of April 2008, the OC-UCY
has received an emergency request
from the Cyprus Department of
Merchant Shipping (CyDMS), after a
warning report from EMSA. EMSA
reported several possible illegal oil
discharges SW of Cyprus.
EMSA warring report to the CyDMS,
showing possible oil slicks, as
detected from CSN image on 18/4/08.
EMSA CSN SAR image (added values from
OC-UCY) on the 18 April 2008 showing
possible oil slicks in the Levantine Basin.
Superimposed several oil slicks drift
predictions for 72 h, from 18 – 21/4/08.

Pilot phase: Oil drift predictions following
EMSA CSN images
24h forward and backtracking predictions
in MEDSLIK, following EMSA CSN oil
slicks detection on 11 September 2009.
White: initial oil slick position :0h
(date/time of observation)
Dark green: forecast +24h
Black: backtracking -24h

Real Examples of Oil Spill detection in the
Mediterranean Sea using MODIS images
Lebanese Spill of July 2006
On the 13 and 15 July 2006, the oil tanks at
Jieh power station, located 30 km south of
Beirut and directly on the coast, were hit by
bombs. About 10,000 - 20,000 tons of oil was
spilt into the sea.

MODIS images taken on the
28 July and 3 August, i.e. 15
and 21 days after the start of
the oil pollution incident at the
Jieh thermal power plant

MEDSLIK predicted amounts of
oil permanently stuck on the coast
after 30 days.
Heaviest deposits are near Jieh
and South Beirut. Lighter deposits
as far north as Latakia.

CYCOFOS Ocean Remote sensing
Example of CYCOFOS Light Attenuation
images from MODIS Aqua data
15-31 May 2002
Example of Tidal
Forecasting using as
initial conditions
satellites altimetry data

MEDSLIK
Conclusion
The CYCOFOS system provides several operational modules and satellite images
on a daily basis, at near-real-time, to local and sub-regional end users in the
Eastern Mediterranean Levantine Basin. The satellite images are used for
improvement through assimilation and validation of the operational ocean flow
forecasts and in oil spill predictions, providing valuable information to the region
supporting the operational response agencies at local, regional and European
level.
The Lebanon oil pollution crisis in summer 2006 demonstrates in best practice the
benefit of having an operational forecasting and observing system in place.
The automatic integration of CYCOFOS MEDSLIK oil spill model with EMSA CSN
satellite data, assisting the implementation of the EU Directive 2005/35.
MODIS
SAR
UN map

Thank you for your attention