Co-Convenors: Tatiana Orlova (PICES/Russia), Vera Trainer (PICES/U.S.A.) and Takafumi Yoshida (NOWPAP/ Japan)

Invited Speaker:
Joji Ishizaka (Nagoya University, Japan)
Raphael Kudela (University of California Santa Cruz, U.S.A.)

Monitoring harmful algal blooms (HABs) and the environmental factors associated with their occurrence can often be improved by remote sensing. Satellite imagery can be used to help: (1) detect and identify HAB species or the oceanic features in which they reside, and (2) in mitigation of damage to fisheries and human health by HABs. However, the effective use of the data from these sensors is often hindered by a lack of skills to acquire, process, and interpret them. The goal of the workshop is to teach the basic skills needed to work independently with data from a variety of satellite sensors (e.g., SeaWiFS, MODIS, MERIS, AVHRR, and CZCS). This workshop may also include such themes as the fundamentals of bio-optics, pigment algorithms, primary production algorithms and, to a lesser extent, the underlying physical principals leading to the measurement of sea surface temperature,
ocean wind speed and ocean topography. A series of lectures will describe research and monitoring efforts that currently use remote sensing for the study of HABs. The workshop will take place following the NOWPAP/ PICES/WESTPAC young investigator training course on “Remote sensing data analysis” held on October 8-12, 2011, in Vladivostok, Russia.