Time series study of an algal bloom along the coast of Namibia

The Namibian coastal region is part of the highly productive Benguela current system, one of the major eastern boundary currents of the world. Coastal upwelling makes these regions highly productive; they all support rich fisheries that are important for the food security and economies of coastal countries in the region.

Using a bloom off the coast of Namibia during March 2008 as an example, the lesson demonstrates how the Bilko software may be used to process and display DevCoCast marine data. The lesson consists of two sessions; on the use of chlorophyll data (i) and the use of sea surface temperature data (ii).

A separate mini-lesson shows how to fill small gaps in the composite images.

By the end of these lessons you should be able to:

• Use Bilko sets to extract time series of datat from DevCoCast NetCDF files
• Use and modify the Bilko formula documents supplied with the lesson to create composite images that combine data from several days.
• Use Bilko filters and formulae to fill small gaps in the data by median interpolation

Download the lesson:

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Screenshot from the lessons showing one day of data (left), a 3-day composite without gap-filling (middle), the formulas used, and the final results after applying the filter-method explained in the interpolation mini-lesson (right).