Studying Red Sea Phytoplankton, Fisheries, and Climate Change Using Remote Sensing Data

Involved

• Ibrahim Hoteit
• Dionysios Raitsos
• Mohammedali NP
• Yasser Abou-Alnaj

Details

Using 30 years of satellite remotely sensed Sea Surface Temperature (AVHRR) and ocean colour (CZCS & SeaWiFS) data, we are looking for evidence of intense warming and its potential impact on the Red Sea biology (phytoplankton and fisheries). Several satellite derived ocean color parameters, such as chlorophyll-a, light intensity, light attenuation depth etc., will be also processed for the two sensor eras (CZCS: 1979-1986, and SeaWiFS: 1998-2010). FAO capture fisheries production data will be used, along with Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE) to assess whether climate change signature is apparent in fisheries data. Advanced statistical analysis is used to develop relationships between the variables such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Generalised Additive Models (GAMs), time-series analysis, abrupt shift detection algorithms, etc.