Segmentation of anticyclonic eddies using MODIS and MERIS imagery of an underwater volcano

Abstract

In order to understand and quantify the environmental impacts caused by the eruption of the El Hierro Island submarine volcano, a regular multidisciplinary monitoring was carried out. In this context, we performed the systematic processing of MODIS and MERIS imagery. Thanks to the volcanic tracer, detailed studies could be undertaken using ocean color imagery allowing, for the first time, to monitor the process of filamentation and axisymmetrization. In our work, a novel 2-steps segmentation methodology has been developed. In this context, this natural tracer release has been detected using an advanced methodology based on an initial structure detection algorithm and a structure growing technique. This detection approach has been validated over a database of MERIS and MODIS oceanographic products and it has demonstrated an excellent performance and robustness.