Location of the Rhine Plume Front By Airborne Remote-sensing

The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of using airborne remote sensing to locate the Rhine plume front. Interest in fronts arises from the desire to predict the fate of pollutants and biological nutrients discharged from rivers into the open sea. Observations were made during flights over the Dutch coastal waters using a vertically-mounted video camera and a side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) designed for oil slick detection. Comparison of radar images with visual observations of the sea colour discontinuity and foam line establish that fronts can indeed be detected by SLAR because of high radar backscatter along the convergence line, where the fresh water jet impinges on saltier water. This provides a sound basis for future investigations using Synthetic Aperture Radar as mounted on ERS-1. An estimation of errors is given, identifying priorities for improvement of the technique. The accuracy achieved is considered sufficient for the validation of hydrodynamic models.