Synergy between Low Earth Orbit (LEO)—MODIS and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO)—GOES Sensors for Sargassum Monitoring in the Atlantic Ocean

Since 2011, massive stranding of the brown algae Sargassum has regularly affected coastal waters West Caribbean, Brazil, and Africa, leading to heavy environmental socio-economic impacts. Ocean color remote sensing observations as performed by sun-synchronous satellite sensors such MODIS (NASA), MERIS (ESA), or OLCI (ESA/Copernicus) are used provide quantitative assessments coverage through calculation indices Alternative Floating Algae Index (AFAI). Sun-synchronous usually at best one daytime observation per day a given oceanic area. However, daily temporal revisit rate is not fully satisfactory monitor dynamics aggregation due their potentially significant drift over course result currents sea surface wind stress. In addition, sun glint presence clouds limit use low earth orbit observations, especially in tropical zones. The high frequency sampling provided geostationary can be relevant alternative approach synergy with ocean increase resolution thus allowing efficient monitoring dynamics. this study, data acquired sensor located 36,000 km from Earth, namely GOES-16 (NASA/NOAA), which was primarily designed for meteorology applications, analyzed investigate results demonstrate that hourly composite product appropriate identify aggregations using an index commonly vegetation monitoring, NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index). It also shown GOES significantly improve simulated obtained transport circulation model, uses geostrophic current, wind, waves. This study highlights relevance effective between characterizing Such could summarized follows: (i) A enables accurate detection estimates (e.g., fractional coverage) AFAI Level-2 products while (ii) determination displacement features (velocity, direction).