T250 Interaction of Physical and Biogeochemical Processes at Groundwater–Surface-Water Interfaces in Rivers, Lakes, Estuaries, and Coastal Marine Settings (Posters)

Tuesday, 27 September 2016
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall E/F

INTEGRATED INVESTIGATION OF SUBMARINE GROUNDWATER DISCHARGE PROCESS AND CHEMICAL FLUX INTO THE OCEAN USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV)-THERMAL INFRARED (TIR) MAPPING AND IN-SITU MEASUREMENT DATA

Paper number: T250-7
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 6:30 PM

Authors

  • Eunhee Lee
    Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Daejeon
  • Sung Pil Hyun Presenting Author
    Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Daejeon
  • Heesung Yoon
    Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Daejeon
  • William Burnett
    Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
  • Dong-Chan Koh
    Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Daejeon
  • Kyoochul Ha
    Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Daejeon
  • Yongcheol Kim
    Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Daejeon

Abstract

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is a global phenomenon that carries large volumes of groundwater and chemical species into the ocean. Despite its importance, lack of tools to assess SGD’s spatial and temporal variability has hampered deeper understanding of the process and its implications in global water and elemental cycles. Here we report the spatial and temporal variations of SGD flux and chemical flux into a coastal water of Jeju Island, Korea, based on aerial surveys with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a thermal infrared (TIR) system complemented by field investigations. This is the first work to report successful acquisition of SGD plume imagery using a UAV. We observed strong thermal signatures of SGD plumes along the coastline of the study site. Multiple UAV aerial surveys clearly captured dynamics in sea surface temperature (SST) driven by temporal variability of SGD, with greatly improved resolutions in SST maps compared to those obtained using heavy aircrafts. SGD flux estimated assuming a linear relationship between SGD flux and plume area relation ranged from 800-1300 m3/h during high tide to 2300-3300 during low tide. Based on the estimated SGD rates and measured concentrations, we appraised the loads to the coastal system of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), maximum dissolved inorganic phosphorous (DIP), and silica at 20-40, 0.2, and 32-60 mole/d/m, respectively. Our observations highlight that TIR mapping using a UAV can serve as one of the most powerful tools in studying SGD and other coastal processes.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 7

doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-278004

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