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Monitoring Coastal Waters from Outer Space
Back in the Dark Ages of the mid-1980s, Frank Muller-Karger was a doctoral student in search of a better way to monitor coastal water quality. Unlike most marine scientists at the time, he chose to look up. 

“NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] had launched satellites that were taking pictures from space,” Muller-Karger said. “I wanted to see if we could accurately measure the color of the ocean with those images, and from that, map changes in water quality over time.” 

Click on photos for larger images. Left: The MODIS 250-m true color image from the satellite pass on Jan. 18, 2005. Center: The MODIS turbidity composite image for December from 2003 to 2006. Strong wind associated with a winter cold front causes high sediment resuspension in the lower bay, especially near the mouth of the bay. Right image: The turbidity composite for July from 2003 to 2006. In the summer season, wind slows down, thus turbidity is not as high. Far right: Turbidity key. Photos courtesy of Zhiqiang Chen of the Institute for Marine Remote Sensing.

The problem was the 1970s-era satellite imaging technology produced extremely low resolution images — 1 pixel equaled about 1 km² — making color detection difficult. “The technology wasn’t there yet,” he said.

But Muller-Karger saw the possibilities. Read more

Ernest C. Tsivoglou Click photo for larger image.

Loving, loyal father, faithful husband, renowned scientist, and teacher, Dr. Ernest C. Tsivoglou of Atlanta passed away in October at age 85 at Emory Hospital following a heart attack. Born in 1922 in New Hampshire, Tsivoglou grew up in New York City during The Great Depression. He is a former member of the Water Environment Federation (Alexandria, Va.). Read more

It seems like just yesterday...  WEFTEC.07
 

It seems like just yesterday WEF President Adam Zabinski (far left), 2006-2007 President Mohamed Dahab (center), and Ken Sobbe, chair of the Manufacturers and Representatives Committee, were opening the WEFTEC.07 exhibition hall with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. With WEFTEC now behind us, get the full scoop on the conference in the December issues of WE&T and WEF Highlights. Click on photo for larger image.

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