RESEARCH IN INDIA

Chapter 3: Seasonal Changes in Phytoplankton

Though the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) has spectral bands optimized for land applications, a pigment algorithm developed for Indian waters has been found useful to retrieve pigment concentration (greater than 1 mg/m^3). Four adjacent scenes for the Gujarat coast mosaiced and registered. All analysis was performed on the PC-386 based image processing system, ISROVISION, built in-house. A range of 1 to 1.5 mg/m^3 was observed, and the highest concentration was seen during March, when waters are warm and sufficient nutrient concentration may be available. The high biomass in March is probably related to the seasons highest fish catch as reported for these waters.