Discovering and Generating Hard Examples for Training a Red Tide Detector

Currently, accurate detection of natural phenomena, such as red tide, that adversely affect wildlife and human, using satellite images has been increasingly utilized. However, red tide detection on satellite images still remains a very hard task due to unpredictable nature of red tide occurrence, extreme sparsity of red tide samples, difficulties in accurate groundtruthing, etc. In this paper, we aim to tackle both the data sparsity and groundtruthing issues by primarily addressing two challenges: i) significant lack of hard examples of non-red tide that can enhance detection performance and ii) extreme data imbalance between red tide and non-red tide examples. In the proposed work, we devise a 9-layer fully convolutional network jointly optimized with two plug-in modules tailored to overcoming the two challenges: i) a hard negative example generator (HNG) to supplement the hard negative (non-red tide) examples and ii) cascaded online hard example mining (cOHEM) to ease the data imbalance. Our proposed network jointly trained with HNG and cOHEM provides state-of-the-art red tide detection accuracy on GOCI satellite images.Comment: 10 page

Ground Truthing Sargassum in Satellite Imagery: Assessment of Its Effectiveness as an Early Warning System

Large aggregations of Sargassum, when at sea, provide important habitat for numerous marine species of vertebrates and invertebrates. It is especially important for the young of several species of sea turtles. However, when large aggregations of Sargassum come ashore on beaches frequented by tourist it is often viewed as a nuisance or even a health hazard. It then becomes a burden to beach management and has to be physically removed as quickly as possible. Many Gulf coast beaches suffer from Sargassum accumulation on a regular basis. Timely information on the size and location of the Sargassum habitat is important to developing coastal management plans. Yet, little is known about the spatial and temporal distribution of Sargassum in the Gulf of Mexico. There is no systematic program to assess the distribution of the macroalgae, therefore practical management plans are difficult to execute. In 2008, Gower and King of the Canadian Institute of Ocean Sciences along with Hu of the University of South Florida, using satellite imagery, identified extensive areas of Sargassum in the western Gulf of Mexico. These were not confirmed with ground truthing data. To date ground truthing observations have not been directly compared with the corresponding satellite images to confirm that it was in fact Sargassum, as the satellite images suggested. y building on the information and research methods of Gower and King, current ground truthing data taken from Texas Parks and Wildlife Gulf trawl sampling surveys was analyzed. In addition, shoreline information and imagery was used to substantiate the data derived from current Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Floating Algae Index (EFAI) images. As part of the NASA sponsored research project Mapping and Forecasting of Pelagic Sargassum Drift Habitat in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Bight for Decision Support, NASA satellite MODIS EFAI images provided by Dr. Hu were used to identify and substantiate corresponding floating Sargassum patches in the Gulf of Mexico. Using the most recent advances in technology and NASA satellite remote sensing, knowledge can be obtained that will aid future decision making for addressing Sargassum in the Gulf of Mexico by substantiating the data provided by satellite imagery. Findings from this research may be useful in developing an early warning system that will allow beach managers to respond in a timely manner to Sargassum events

Numerical and Field Study of Tidal and Subtidal Dynamics in a Bar-Built Estuary: Barataria Bay, Gulf of Mexico

This study investigated tidal and subtidal dynamics of water level, currents, and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in Barataria Bay, a shallow bar-built estuary of the Northern Gulf of Mexico. First, the local and remote wind forcing contribution on subtidal water level and current variability were examined using three different methods: (i) statistical analysis of observed data, (ii) an analytical model and (iii) a 2-D barotropic numerical model. Results suggested that the remote and local wind effects were equally important at the bay mouth, however local winds were the dominant forcing driver inside the bay. The amplitudes of subtidal fluctuations induced by local winds were twice as large as the one caused by remote winds. This finding differs from those found in the existing literature, notably for Breton Sound and Lake Pontchartrain, where remote wind effect has been reported to be dominant. These differences are attributed to the different geomorphological features of the estuaries. Furthermore, the seasonality of the SSC in Barataria Pass was explored as the offshore environment transitioned from a period of high cold front activity and low river discharge to a period of low cold front activity and high river discharge. The SSC dynamics during the winter was mainly forced by resuspension in response to the cold front winds. During the spring, the average SSC (0.23 g l-1) was significantly higher than winter (0.15 g l-1) because of the strong offshore influence of the Mississippi River plume. Finally, tidal response to the relative sea level rise and marsh accretion was investigated. Contrary to previous modeling analyses in other estuaries suggesting that flooding of the low-lying land with sea level rise would increase frictional effects and thus reduce tidal range, this study suggested that tidal range in a choked tidal system like Barataria Bay increases even when accompanied by extensive land inundation. This occurs because in Barataria Bay the channel conveyance effects are larger than the frictional effects of the low-lying areas. In the lower and the middle bay, the largest increase in tidal range occurred when the marsh area was assumed to keep pace with relative sea Level rise. However, in the upper bay the largest increase in tidal range occurred when no accretion was assumed. In addition, relative sea level rise caused tidal amplification at the head of the estuary. A detailed momentum balance analysis indicated that sea level rise shifts tidal wave from a dissipative regime to a more progressive wave, which is more likely to be amplified

State of the climate in 2018

In 2018, the dominant greenhouse gases released into Earth’s atmosphere—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—continued their increase. The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration at Earth’s surface was 407.4 ± 0.1 ppm, the highest in the modern instrumental record and in ice core records dating back 800 000 years. Combined, greenhouse gases and several halogenated gases contribute just over 3 W m−2 to radiative forcing and represent a nearly 43% increase since 1990. Carbon dioxide is responsible for about 65% of this radiative forcing. With a weak La Niña in early 2018 transitioning to a weak El Niño by the year’s end, the global surface (land and ocean) temperature was the fourth highest on record, with only 2015 through 2017 being warmer. Several European countries reported record high annual temperatures. There were also more high, and fewer low, temperature extremes than in nearly all of the 68-year extremes record. Madagascar recorded a record daily temperature of 40.5°C in Morondava in March, while South Korea set its record high of 41.0°C in August in Hongcheon. Nawabshah, Pakistan, recorded its highest temperature of 50.2°C, which may be a new daily world record for April. Globally, the annual lower troposphere temperature was third to seventh highest, depending on the dataset analyzed. The lower stratospheric temperature was approximately fifth lowest. The 2018 Arctic land surface temperature was 1.2°C above the 1981–2010 average, tying for third highest in the 118-year record, following 2016 and 2017. June’s Arctic snow cover extent was almost half of what it was 35 years ago. Across Greenland, however, regional summer temperatures were generally below or near average. Additionally, a satellite survey of 47 glaciers in Greenland indicated a net increase in area for the first time since records began in 1999. Increasing permafrost temperatures were reported at most observation sites in the Arctic, with the overall increase of 0.1°–0.2°C between 2017 and 2018 being comparable to the highest rate of warming ever observed in the region. On 17 March, Arctic sea ice extent marked the second smallest annual maximum in the 38-year record, larger than only 2017. The minimum extent in 2018 was reached on 19 September and again on 23 September, tying 2008 and 2010 for the sixth lowest extent on record. The 23 September date tied 1997 as the latest sea ice minimum date on record. First-year ice now dominates the ice cover, comprising 77% of the March 2018 ice pack compared to 55% during the 1980s. Because thinner, younger ice is more vulnerable to melting out in summer, this shift in sea ice age has contributed to the decreasing trend in minimum ice extent. Regionally, Bering Sea ice extent was at record lows for almost the entire 2017/18 ice season. For the Antarctic continent as a whole, 2018 was warmer than average. On the highest points of the Antarctic Plateau, the automatic weather station Relay (74°S) broke or tied six monthly temperature records throughout the year, with August breaking its record by nearly 8°C. However, cool conditions in the western Bellingshausen Sea and Amundsen Sea sector contributed to a low melt season overall for 2017/18. High SSTs contributed to low summer sea ice extent in the Ross and Weddell Seas in 2018, underpinning the second lowest Antarctic summer minimum sea ice extent on record. Despite conducive conditions for its formation, the ozone hole at its maximum extent in September was near the 2000–18 mean, likely due to an ongoing slow decline in stratospheric chlorine monoxide concentration. Across the oceans, globally averaged SST decreased slightly since the record El Niño year of 2016 but was still far above the climatological mean. On average, SST is increasing at a rate of 0.10° ± 0.01°C decade−1 since 1950. The warming appeared largest in the tropical Indian Ocean and smallest in the North Pacific. The deeper ocean continues to warm year after year. For the seventh consecutive year, global annual mean sea level became the highest in the 26-year record, rising to 81 mm above the 1993 average. As anticipated in a warming climate, the hydrological cycle over the ocean is accelerating: dry regions are becoming drier and wet regions rainier. Closer to the equator, 95 named tropical storms were observed during 2018, well above the 1981–2010 average of 82. Eleven tropical cyclones reached Saffir–Simpson scale Category 5 intensity. North Atlantic Major Hurricane Michael’s landfall intensity of 140 kt was the fourth strongest for any continental U.S. hurricane landfall in the 168-year record. Michael caused more than 30 fatalities and $25 billion (U.S. dollars) in damages. In the western North Pacific, Super Typhoon Mangkhut led to 160 fatalities and$6 billion (U.S. dollars) in damages across the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Tropical Storm Son-Tinh was responsible for 170 fatalities in Vietnam and Laos. Nearly all the islands of Micronesia experienced at least moderate impacts from various tropical cyclones. Across land, many areas around the globe received copious precipitation, notable at different time scales. Rodrigues and Réunion Island near southern Africa each reported their third wettest year on record. In Hawaii, 1262 mm precipitation at Waipā Gardens (Kauai) on 14–15 April set a new U.S. record for 24-h precipitation. In Brazil, the city of Belo Horizonte received nearly 75 mm of rain in just 20 minutes, nearly half its monthly average. Globally, fire activity during 2018 was the lowest since the start of the record in 1997, with a combined burned area of about 500 million hectares. This reinforced the long-term downward trend in fire emissions driven by changes in land use in frequently burning savannas. However, wildfires burned 3.5 million hectares across the United States, well above the 2000–10 average of 2.7 million hectares. Combined, U.S. wildfire damages for the 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons exceeded $40 billion (U.S. dollars)

Coastal marine heatwaves: Understanding extreme forces

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology)Seawater temperature from regional to global scale is central to many measures of biodi- versity and continues to aid our understanding of the evolution and ecology of biolog- ical assemblages. Therefore, a clear understanding of the relationship between marine biodiversity and thermal structures is critical for effective conservation planning. In the an- thropocene, an epoch characterised by anthropogenic forcing on the climate system, future patterns in biodiversity and ecological functioning may be estimated from projected climate scenarios however; absent from many of these scenarios is the inclusion of extreme thermal events, known as marine heatwaves (MHWs). There is also a conspicuous absence in knowl- edge of the drivers for all but the most notorious of these events. Before the drivers of MHWs along the coast of South Africa could be determined, it was first necessary to validate the 129 in situ coastal seawater temperature time series that could be used to this end. In doing so it was found that time series created with older (longer), lower precision (0.5 Degrees Celsius) instruments were more useful than newer (shorter) time series produced with high precision (0.001 Degrees Celsius) instruments. With the in situ data validated, a history of the occurrence of MHWs along the coastline (nearshore) was created and compared against MHWs detected by remotely sensed data (offshore). This comparison showed that the forcing of offshore temperatures onto the nearshore was much lower than anticipated, with the rates of co-occurrence for events between the datasets along the coast ranging from 0.2 to 0.5. To accommodate this lack of consistency between datasets, a much larger mesoscale area was then taken around southern Africa when attempting to determine potential mesoscale drivers of MHWs along the coast. Using a self organising-map (SOM), it was possible to organise the synoptic scale oceanographic and atmospheric states during coastal MHWs into discernible groupings. It was found that the most common synoptic oceanographic pattern during coastal MHWs was Agulhas Leakage, and the most common atmospheric pattern was anomalously warmoverland air temperatures.With these patterns known it is now necessary to calculate how often they occur when no MHW has been detected. This work may then allow for the development of predictive capabilities that could help mitigate the damage caused by MHWs

CDR Data Management Plan: Data Survey and System Design

The University of Texas at Austin Center for Space Research (UT-CSR) final report to address topics and questions raised by the General Land Office (GLO) concerning concepts underlying the Texas Disaster Information System (TDIS).Texas General Land Office through GLO Contract No. 18-229-000-B854Center for Space Researc

Feature Papers of Drones - Volume II

[EN] The present book is divided into two volumes (Volume I: articles 1–23, and Volume II: articles 24–54) which compile the articles and communications submitted to the Topical Collection ”Feature Papers of Drones” during the years 2020 to 2022 describing novel or new cutting-edge designs, developments, and/or applications of unmanned vehicles (drones). Articles 24–41 are focused on drone applications, but emphasize two types: firstly, those related to agriculture and forestry (articles 24–35) where the number of applications of drones dominates all other possible applications. These articles review the latest research and future directions for precision agriculture, vegetation monitoring, change monitoring, forestry management, and forest fires. Secondly, articles 36–41 addresses the water and marine application of drones for ecological and conservation-related applications with emphasis on the monitoring of water resources and habitat monitoring. Finally, articles 42–54 looks at just a few of the huge variety of potential applications of civil drones from different points of view, including the following: the social acceptance of drone operations in urban areas or their influential factors; 3D reconstruction applications; sensor technologies to either improve the performance of existing applications or to open up new working areas; and machine and deep learning development

The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2005

Executive Summary: For over three decades, scientists have been documenting the decline of coral reef ecosystems, amid increasing recognition of their value in supporting high biological diversity and their many benefits to human society. Coral reef ecosystems are recognized for their benefits on many levels, such as supporting economies by nurturing fisheries and providing for recreational and tourism opportunities, providing substances useful for medical purposes, performing essential ecosystem services that protect against coastal erosion, and provid-ing a diversity of other, more intangible contributions to many cultures. In the past decade, the increased awareness regarding coral reefs has prompted action by governmental and non-governmental organizations, including increased funding from the U.S. Congress for conservation of these important ecosystems and creation of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) to coordinate activities and implement conservation measures [Presidential Executive Order 13089]. Numerous partnerships forged among Federal agencies and state, local, non-governmental, academic and private partners support activities that range from basic science to systematic monitoring of ecosystem com-ponents and are conducted by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities, and the private sector. This report shares the results of many of these efforts in the framework of a broad assessment of the condition of coral reef ecosystems across 14 U.S. jurisdictions and Pacific Freely Associated States. This report relies heavily on quantitative, spatially-explicit data that has been collected in the recent past and comparisons with historical data, where possible. The success of this effort can be attributed to the dedication of over 160 report contributors who comprised the expert writing teams for each jurisdiction. The content of the report chapters are the result of their considerable collaborative efforts. The writing teams, which were organized by jurisdiction and comprised of experts from numerous research and management institutions, were provided a basic chapter outline and a length limit, but the content of each chapter was left entirely to their discretion. Each jurisdictional chapter in the report is structured to: 1) describe how each of the primary threats identified in the National Coral Reef Action Strategy (NCRAS) has manifested in the jurisdiction; 2) introduce ongoing monitoring and assessment activities relative to three major categories of inquiry – water quality, benthic habitats, and associated biological communities – and provide summary results in a data-rich format; and 3) highlight recent management activities that promote conservation of coral reef ecosystems