Projects

Dr. Gade has been participating in various national and international projects:

ongoing:

• DeMARINE-U (nation.; 2008-2011/2012-2015).UHH's contribution to the German national project DeMarine, in the second project phase called Satellitendaten für ein Monitoring im Watt (SAMOWatt), is focussing on the inclusion of SAR data into an existing monitoring system of the Wadden Sea on the German North Sea coast. DeMarine is the German contribution to the European Earth Observing program Copernicus and is aiming at providing operational services for the sustainable use of remote sensing data. The role of UHH within this sub-project is to investigate, and to demonstrate, the potential of high-resolution SAR data (from TerraSAR-X and Radarsat-2, along with older data from ERS-2, ENVISAT and ALOS) for the routine monitoring of exposed intertidal flats. In this frame, special emphasis is being put on the imaging of mussel beds (blue mussels and oysters) and macrophytes, as well as on SAR signatures of different sediment classes (sand and mud).

• SOPRAN (nation.; 2007-2010/2010-2013/2013-2016). The German national Project Surface Ocean Processes in the Anthropocene (SOPRAN) is a joint national project (Verbundprojekt) as well as a German national contribution to the International SOLAS programme. SOPRAN’s focus is on processes operating within and close to the surface ocean, and their potential changes over the next century. The project is an integrated study of surface ocean response to global atmospheric change, combining the insights gained from different disciplines (marine and atmospheric chemistry, biological and physical oceanography) and methods (observations and modelling). SOPRAN aims to deliver an improved description of the effects of global atmospheric change on the sensitive marine ecosystems. The goal of this sub-project is to provide an improved methodology for the determination of global gas transfer rates derived from satellite data. Measurements on the research platform FINO 2, of radar backscatter and of gas fluxes, will provide an in-depth knowledge of the mechanisms responsible for the gas transfer under various environmental conditions and are being used to derive an algorithm which relates air-sea CO2 fluxes directly to surface roughness parameters. To reach this goal, time series of the radar cross section, obtained on the FINO-2 platform using a multi-frequency scatterometer (L-Ku MW Bands), are being analyzed at all frequencies and polarizations and correlated with CO2 fluxes, CO2 transfer velocities, wind speed and direction, wave state, and air and water temperatures. The goal of the analysis is a thorough understanding of the dependencies of all measured parameters on the seasonal changes and in particular un improved understanding of the relation between radar backscatter and air-sea fluxes of CO2. Results of the analyses of global scatterometer data as well as high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data on a regional scale are aiding our joint investigation.

completed:

• DeMOSSS (EU-Russ.-Ukrain.; 2007-2009. DEvelopment of Marine Oil Spills/slicks Satellite monitoring System elements targeting the Black/Caspian/Kara/Barents Seas (DEMOSSS) was an INTAS project, whose goal was to develop and demonstrate components of a marine oil spill detection and prediction ssystem based on satellite SAR and other space data in combination with models for oil slick/spill monitoring, prediction and assessment of their impact on the environment. The results of the 24-months project were implemented as a prototype of a marine environment information service in Black/Caspian/Kara/Barents seas as a part of GMES.

• MOPED (EU-Russ.-Ukrain.-Azerbajd.; 2007-2009). The aim of the INTAS project Monitoring of Oil Pollution using Earth Observation Data: a multisensor, multiplaform approach (MOPED) was to develop recommendations for a system to use all available information from satellites and independent sources in order to detect and (where possible) quantify chronic oil pollution (small spills and wastewater discharges), whilst reducing the risk of false positives.

• WiSSCy (nation.; 2005-2008). Impact of Wind, Rain, and Surface Slicks on Air-Sea CO2 Transfer Velocity - Tank Experiments - (WiSSCy) was a cooperation between the University of Heidelberg and UHH. The goal was to improve the understanding of the parameterization of air-sea gas exchange with emphasis on CO2. Using UHH's linear wind-wave tank facility, gas exchange coefficients were inferred by measuring gas transfer under a wide variety of parameters such as wind, mechanically generated waves, rain, and surface films. Emphasis was on the physical processes involved in the air-sea gas exchange and its quantitative measurement, and experiments were performed for evasion and invasion to investigate if rain-induced gas transfer is symmetrical or asymmetrical. These experiments allowed to determine parameterizations of the gas exchange as a function of parameters of the atmospheric boundary layers as they are needed in climate models and for the analysis of satellite data.

• DeCoP (EU-Russ.-Ukrain.; 2004-2006). The aim of the GMES project Detection and characterisation of organic pollution in the coastal environment (DeCoP) was to develop techniques for the synergistic use of satellite data to monitor pollution from pipe-line seeps, waste-water discharges, marine traffic and spillages from routine operations as part of offshore or tanker activities.

• SIMP (EU-Russ.; 2004-2007). Slicks as Indicators for Marine Processes (SIMP) was a 3-years project aiming at spanning the wide range from small-to meso- and large-scale investigations in laboratory wind-wave facilities and dedicated field experiments, respectively. Four main study areas were identified: the Black Sea and Baltic Sea in Europe and the Sea of Japan and Okhotsk Sea in the Far East. Quasi-biogenic slicks (i.e. artificial surface films consisting of basic compounds of natural slicks) were deployed in test areas in the Black Sea and the Sea of Japan and were used for systematic analyses of dynamic processes. Laboratory experiments conducted in Hamburg and Nizhny Novgorod provided new insights into visco-elastic properties of surfactants and into their role in water wave damping in the presence of sub-surface turbulence. The findings were used to design, and were confirmed during, the field experiments. Frequent acquisition of multi-frequency satellite data allowed the detection and identification of meso-scale marine processes, and their tracking in space and time. The comprehensive analyses of satellite imagery improved our knowledge of dynamical (atmospheric and oceanic) processes in the coastal zone.

• MARSAIS (EU; 2002-2003). Marine SAR Analysis and Interpretation System (MARSAIS) was an integrated information system for processing and information extraction from different types of Earth Observation data. By means of validated algorithms and models, MARSAIS generated a suite of quality controlles coastal zone products with information on sea state, currents and pollution. Products were then delivered through a web based User Interface.

• Bluewater (EU; 2000-2002) was focussing on Computerised Video Camera Image Analysis For Monitoring Pollution In Water. The German team of UHH performed laboratory and field experiments on the detectability of (quasi-) biogenic marine surface films by video camera systems, and thereby provided the scientific background for the development of an automated video surveillance system of near-shore coastal waters.

• EURoPAK-B (national; 1998-2000). Experiments and Investigations on the Remote Sensing of Oceanic and Atmospheric Phenomena by Radar for Coastal Zone Applications (EURoPAK-B) was a project on the development of a remote sensing technique for underwater bottom topography on the basis of current measurements by airborne along-track InSAR. Two field experiments were carried out at test sites near the islands Heligoland and Sylt in the German Bight of the North Sea. The InSAR data acquisition and processing was carried out by Aero-Sensing Radarsysteme GmbH (now Intermap Technologies GmbH), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. Additional data and model results were obtained from the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) and the German Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (BAW), both Hamburg, and from the Institute for Coastal Research of GKSS Research Center GmbH, Geesthacht, Germany.

• In the frame of a collaboration with the GKSS Research Center (national; 1999-2002) measurements in UHH's wind-wave tank were carried out with a range-resolving W-band radar, an X-band scatterometer, and a video camera. The aim of the project was to improve our knowledge about the development of wind-generated waves, their breaking, and their damping by monomolecular surface films.

• AURORa (national; 1998-2001). The German national project Anwendungsorientierte Untersuchungen zur Regenfernerkundung über dem Ozean mit Radarverfahren (Application-oriented studies on remote sensing of rain over the ocean using radar techniques; AURORa) was devoted to improved studies of radar signatures of rain events (rain cells and rain bands) over the World's oceans. Laboratory measurements at UHH's wind-wave tank and field campaigns at a radar tower at the mouth of the river Elbe were used to gain further insight into both the very processes linked to rain impinging into the water surface and the effect heavy rain has on the radar backscatering from the ocean.

• Clean Seas (EU; 1996-99) was a European Environment programme designed to evaluate the contribution that present and future satellite systems can make towards monitoring marine pollution. Systematic measurements were made over three European coastal zones, in the Central Baltic Sea, the Southern North Sea, and the North-Western Mediterranean Sea, to build an archive of repeat observations. Routinely acquired synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of those test areas were used to generate first statistics on the spatial and seasonal distribution of marine oil pollution in European marginal seas.

• SIR-C/X-SAR (intern.; 1993-96). The two Spaceborne Imaging Radar - C / X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar missions were a joint project of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the German Space Agency (DARA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). In April and October 1994, an L-, C- and X-band SAR was flown on the space shuttle Endeavour during two 11-day missions. SAR images showing natural (biogenic) surface slicks as well as man-made (anthropogenic) mineral oil spills were analyzed with the aim to study whether or not active radar techniques can be applied to discriminating between these two kinds of surface films. Controlled slick experiments were carried out during both shuttle missions in the German Bight of the North Sea as well as in the northern part of the Sea of Japan and the Kuroshio Stream region where surface films of different visco-elastic properties were deployed within the swath of the shuttle radars.

• SAMPLEX'92 (Dutch-German; 1992) was a collaborative German-Dutch oil recovery exercise in the German Bight of the North Sea. The Remote Sensing Unit at the Institute of Oceanography participated in this exercise with its multi-frequency/,multi-polarization scatterometer HELISCAT, which was flown on a (BO-105) helicopter and which was used to measure the radar contrast of different marine oil spills and its dependence on oil type and age.

• SAXON-FPN (US-German; 1991-93). The Synthetic Aperture Radar and X Band Ocean Nonlinearities (SAXON) - Forschungsplattform Nordsee (FPN) program was a 3-year effort to investigate radar backscatter from the ocean and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery of the ocean. A secondary objective of the program was to explore the relationship between acoustic and microwave scattering from the ocean surface. The program was a joint effort between the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany. It consisted primarily of a major field experiment (phase I) in the North Sea on and around the German Forschungsplattform Nordsee (FPN) during November 1990, a second, smaller field experiment (phase II) on the same platform in November 1991, and a series of four data analysis workshops.

Moreover, he has been principal investigator (PI) or co-investigator (Co-I) of a number of projects devoted to the use and the analysis of data from European and international remote sensing satellites such as ERS 1/2, Envisat, TerraSAR-X, and ALOS.