TITLE:
Island Activities Detected by VIIRS and Validation with AIS
AUTHORS:
Ichio Asanuma, Daisuke Hasegawa, Takashi Yamaguchi, Jong Geol Park, Kenneth James Mackin
KEYWORDS:
Dredging, Reclamation, VIIRS, DNB, Chlorophyll-a, AIS
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Remote Sensing,
Vol.7 No.3,
September
11,
2018
ABSTRACT: A possibility to monitor the reclamation activities by remote sensing was
discussed. The lights observed in the night time by Day Night Band (DNB) of
Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), ocean color observed in the
day time by visible bands of VIIRS were the tools to monitor the surface
activities, and the Automated Information System (AIS) was used to verify the
types and number of vessels associated with the reclamation activities. The
lights as the radiance from the surface were monitored by the object based
analysis, where the object was defined as a radius of 5 km from the center of
the Mischief Reef in the South China Sea (SCS). The time history of surface
lights exhibited the increase of the radiance from January to May 2015 and the
radiance was kept in the certain level to December 2016 with some variations.
The ocean color, chlorophyll-a concentration as a proxy of sediments, showed an
increase from February to June 2015 and returned to a low concentration in
August 2015. According to the historical data of AIS, the number of dredgers
has increased from February to August 2015 and the maximum number of dredgers
was recorded in June 2015. The timing of increase of lights from surface,
increase of chlorophyll-a concentration, and increase of number of vessels are
consistent.