Sentinel 2: Una nueva herramienta para la gestión sostenible de la acuicultura en zonas costeras

Shellfish aquaculture has a major socioeconomic impact on coastal areas, being both conditioned by and a modifier of the environment and its dynamics. Developing support tools for the management of this activity is essential to ensure the sustainability of these agro-systems within an integrated coastal zone management scenario. In this sense, the near real-time delivery of satellite remote sensing data and its integration with in situ data and models can provide useful information for aquaculture management decisions (including temporal and spatial management). One of the most important water parameters for both aquaculture and environmental water management is the phytoplankton, which is commonly reported as chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentration. Thus, chl-a, which can be estimated by means of remote sensing, can be used as indicator of water quality in coastal areas. The aim of this study is to assess the applicability of the European Spatial Agency Sentinel 2A as a tool for the management of shellfish aquaculture in shallow coastal areas. For these purpose, remote sensing and ground truth data were coupled to develop a model for chl-a estimation, both temporally and spatially. Here, we present the first results showing the potential of using Sentinel 2 MSI imagery as a management tool to encourage better future practices in the management of shellfish aquaculture in the Ebro Delta bays.