About the project

The aim of the Copernicus Sentinel Atlantic Meridional Transect Fiducial Reference Measurements Campaign (AMT4SentinelFRM) is to provide high quality Fiducial Reference Measurements (FRM) to validate Sentinel ocean colour and sea surface temperature satellite products.

Ocean colour (OC) radiometry and sea surface temperature (SST) are fundamental oceanographic parameters necessary to monitor and manage the marine ecosystem for aquaculture, fisheries, water quality, mapping and monitoring harmful algal blooms, and in terms of its response to climate change. The development of Copernicus satellites Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 that carry state-of-the-art instruments for the measurement of OC and SST represent a means of measuring these parameters globally, over land, coast and ocean, at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. With the advent of the first Sentinel missions, there is a need to provide Fiducial Reference Measurements (FRMs) with consistent quality, high accuracy and reliability for the validation of OC and SST Sentinel products, so that high quality and reliable satellite data can be delivered to the international science community. This can only be achieved through rigorous validation of Sentinel data over a range of environments.

The Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) undertakes research, during the annual passage of a research ship between the UK and the Southern Ocean, as part of the UK government National Capability programme. The AMT provides a unique opportunity to collect in situ data for the validation of Sentinel products in open ocean oligotrophic, eutrophic and coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The main aim of this project is to provide high-quality FRMs for the validation of Sentinel products in a range of Atlantic locations.  The project will deliver FRMs to SI traceable standards using published protocols and methodologies during the AMT26 field campaign during September and October 2016, which will be used for the validation of Sentinel-3 OLCI (Ocean and Land Colour Instrument) and SLSTR (Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer) and Sentinel-2A coastal MSI (Multi-Spectral imaging Instrument). The deployment of along-track autonomous technologies will maximise FRM match-ups with Sentinel overpasses and enable a comprehensive accuracy assessment of Sentinel 2 and 3 OC and SST products over a range of conditions.

A team of researchers, remote-sensing scientists and technicians with long-term experience in the fields of optical radiometry and remote-sensing of ocean colour, infrared sea surface temperature radiometry and C-band radar will undertake this project, under the leadership of Plymouth Marine Laboratory.