Satellite survey of seasonal trophic status and occasional anoxic 'malaigue' crises in the Thau lagoon using MERIS images

International audience; The Thau lagoon, located in southern France, suffers episodically from anoxic crises locally known as 'malaigue'. Such crises mostly occur under warm conditions, low winds leading to a strong eutrophication of the lagoon. The development of a sulphur bacterium sometimes gives locally to the waters a 'milky turquoise' appearance and leads to shellfish mortality. One of the indicators of the eutrophication status of the lagoon can be surveyed by the chlorophyll product provided by remote sensing images such as Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS). In this paper we compare chl2 (or algal2) estimations provided by MERIS level 2 products and the ground measureme…