Assessing the portential of modis on estimating chlorophyll-a along Terengganu Coastal Area

Abstract

The amount of chlorophyll-a depend on the amount of algae and can also be used as an indicator of phytoplankton abundance and biomass in coastal water. The concentration of chlorophyll-a also could be general measured of water quality. The objective of this study is to determine the chlorophyll-a density and it distribution along Terengganu coastal area. Secondly to identify chlorophyll-a using MODIS data and lastly to define the potential of MO DIS data on estimating concentration of chlorophyll-a in seawater. Sampling was also done on 17 September 2006 at Merang coastal area and Kuala Terengganu coastal area. The result shows that the concentration of chlorophyll-a is between 1.1-3.4 mg/m3 . A series of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data on 17 September 2006 was used in this study. Regression analysis was done between in-situ data and waterleaving radiance from MODIS. The best regression is between in-situ data and water-leaving radiance from band 12 which is R2 of 0.7656. This best regression then was used to developed a map of chlorophyll-a. The result from the map shows that the chlorophyll-a concentration at the study area is between 1.4-2.04 mg/m3 .