A new AERONET_OC station for the northern North Sea

Poster presented at European Space Agency "Living Planet 2016".<br>The need for high-frequency, high-quality optical measurements at sea level to support and validate satellite measurements of ocean colour has long been recognised (Zibordi, Berthon, et al. 2009). With the aims of creating new satellite products for Sentinels 2 and 3, and greatly increasing the availability of marine in situ data for validation, the HIGHROC proposal was submitted to Framework 7, and subsequently received funding for four years. In work package 5 of the project, a large dataset of in situ measurements of water quality will be generated using automated SMARTBUOY and FERRYBOX systems to generate high quality measurements of parameters such as suspended sediment load, chlorophyll concentration and underwater light penetration. These are the types of data which are typically used in national assessments of water quality, and in Environmental Statements by maritime industry. Utilisation of automated in situ measurements can greatly increase the number of match-ups with satellite data (Neukermans et al. 2012). In addition to the in-water measurements, readings of the radiance leaving the water surface are very important for satellite validation (Zibordi, Mélin, et al. 2009, Zibordi et al. 2015). The water-leaving radiance (Lw) is equivalent to the radiance measured by a satellite after correction for attenuation of light in the atmosphere. There are at present no suitable operational measurements of Lw in UK waters, indeed there were none in the whole of the North Sea prior to HIGHROC. To improve the coverage of sea-level radiance in the North Sea, Cefas and the University of Hull are working together with the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult centre in the development of an AERONET ocean-colour measuring station to be located at an experimental meteorological tower in the northern North Sea. .