Advancing phytoplankton groups identification in inland and coastal waters using EnMAP

• Grant number: 24/23874-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: June 16, 2025
• End date: December 15, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: Cláudio Clemente Faria Barbosa
• Grantee: Bruno Rech
• Supervisor: Astrid Bracher
• Host Institution: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE). São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Helmholtz Association, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/06636-9 - Potential of high-resolution hyperspectral data for identification of phytoplankton groups in inland and coastal waters, BP.MS

Abstract

Due to increasing anthropic pressures leading to ecosystem disturbances such as eutrophication, observing changes in phytoplankton community structure became of utmost importance. Remote-sensing-based algorithms have been developed to discriminate phytoplankton groups in the ocean using ocean colour, but there is a huge scientific gap in this field regarding coastal and especially inland waters. This scenario gained new possibilities with the launch of a new generation of orbital hyperspectral missions, such as the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP). Therefore, we propose a study to investigate methods for quantifying phytoplankton groups in inland and coastal waters using EnMAP imagery. Specifically, our goals are to select the most suitable algorithms, evaluate their accuracy and precision, and verify whether these methods need or can be adapted to better represent phytoplankton communities in inland and nearshore areas. As a result, we expect to advance the knowledge on remote sensing of aquatic systems in Brazil, as well as to contribute to water quality monitoring and management, including the detection of potentially harmful algal blooms. To achieve this, a cooperation between the National Institute for Space Research, the Centre for Marine Biology of the University of São Paulo, and the Alfred Wegener Institute (Germany) is proposed, with a six-month research internship abroad.