Search of submarine discharge locations with multi-temporal thermal infrared images and ground radar surveys

Fresh water discharge from the sea floor strongly affects a coastal ecology and the diffusion of contaminants. Much fresh water discharge has been found in the edge of Kurobe alluvial fan, in which annual rainfall is over 4000mm and there is abundant groundwater. However, it is difficult to find the groundwater discharge, thus the search of possible areas with some remote sensing tools is required. Because the temperature of the discharge point is relatively low compared with the surrounding sea water surfaces, there is a possibility to detect the area as an irregular zone of thermal infrared images. Two anomalous temperature zones, which have no surface streams from rivers, are detected by ASTER thermal-infrared images. One of them was verified as the groundwater discharge point by dives. In addition, the distribution of water table under the land side of the two areas is also detected as irregular zones by a ground-penetrating radar