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In February of 1998, intense El Nino driven storms blanketed the coast of California. Storm water runoff from these storms inundated coastal waters, blanketing approximately 6,000 km2. Following intense storms during the week of February 1-9, 1998, the PnB project sampled 38 locations in the Santa Barbara Channel in an effort to quantify the impact of large storm water runoff events. Discrete sample measurements, coupled with satellite imagery analysis, suggest that 19 million metric tons of sediment were discharged into the Santa Barbara Channel during this event.
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| Surface plumes along Gaviota Coast, near Santa Barbara. Photo taken March 3, 1998 (Santa Barbara News Press, Mark Defeo). |
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| SeaWiFS true color image for
2/9/98 showing (A) the California coast and (B) the Santa Barbara Channel. Between 2/4/98
and 2/8/98, 28 cm of precipitation fell in the City of Santa Barbara. Aerial photographs of
plumes in the Santa Barbara Channel (C and D) taken on 2/10/98. River sampling sites are
denoted with stars on figure B.
Plumes & Blooms: UCSB, NOAA CINMS, ONR, SeaWiFS (L. Mertes and J. Warrick, unpublished data). |