Project Title: High-Resolution Mapping of Spectral Benthic Irradiance with Sentinel-2 imagery for Seagrass Habitat Assessment in Massachusetts Coastal Bays
Duration: 05/2026 to 12/2026
Funding Source(s): Boston University
Principal Investigator(s): Cédric Fichot
Affiliation: Department of Earth and Environment, Boston University
Email: cgfichot@bu.edu
Project Description: Seagrass meadows are among the most productive and valuable coastal ecosystems. They provide essential nursery habitat for marine species, stabilize shorelines, recycle nutrients, and store substantial amounts of carbon in coastal sediments. Despite these benefits, seagrass habitats have declined worldwide. Restoration through replanting has therefore become increasingly common, but these efforts are often costly and can fail when environmental conditions are not suitable for long-term seagrass survival. The amount of sunlight reaching the seafloor is one of the primary controls on seagrass growth and survival. However, estimating seafloor light availability is challenging because water clarity changes continuously in response to tides, river inputs, and sediments resuspended by wind and waves. This project will use satellite images to monitor changes in water clarity across six bays and estuaries along the Massachusetts coast, including Waquoit Bay. By combining satellite observations with field measurements of light attenuation through the water column, models of incoming sunlight, water depth, and tidal information, the project will estimate long-term patterns of the light reaching the seafloor. These maps will provide restoration practitioners and coastal managers with a more accurate, science-based framework for identifying locations where seagrass habitats are most likely to persist and where restoration efforts are most likely to succeed.
