Water-leaving radiance data obtained from MODIS-Aqua satellite images at spatial resolution of 250 m (band 1 at 645
nm) and 500 m (band 4 at 555 nm) were used to analyze the correlation between plume area and rainfall during strong
storm events in coastal waters of Southern California. Our study is focused on the area between Point Loma and the US-Mexican
border in San Diego, which is influenced by terrigenous input of particulate and dissolved materials from San
Diego and Tijuana watersheds and non-point sources along the shore. For several events of intense rainstorms that
occurred in the winter of 2004-2005, we carried out a correlational analysis between the satellite-derived plume area and
rainfall parameters. We examined several rainfall parameters and methods for the estimation of plume area. We
identified the optimal threshold values of satellite-derived normalized water-leaving radiances at 645 nm and 555 nm for
distinguishing the plume from ambient ocean waters. The satellite-derived plume size showed high correlation with the
amount of precipitated water accumulated during storm event over the San Diego and Tijuana watersheds. Our results
support the potential of ocean color imagery with relatively high spatial resolution for the study of turbid plumes in the
coastal ocean.
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