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Page 10SANCOR NEWSLETTER #200ences visible. In the earlier years there wasan interdal sediment bank prelocated tothe p of the headland. In the 2001 low deimage, the sediment bank is exposed anddetected as mud flat in the classificaon. Inthe 2003 high‐de image the bank is inundated,but its presence sll indicated by thepink fringe of breaking waves at its easternextension. However, in the 2009 high‐deimage, this fringe is no longer visible, indicangthat the sand bank has eroded. Accordingto local experts this erosion tookplace during a storm‐event in the periodbetween the acquisions of the images.Cape Agulhas is South Africa’s southernmostand sparsely populated land p. The shore isrelavely low, with a mixture of rocks andsandy beaches. The classificaon of theLandsat image from 14 May 2003 showslarge mobile dune fields in the Cape Agulhas/Struisbayregion (Figure 4). Also, as asurprise, the classificaon detected submergedvegetaon, probably kelp beds,close to the coast (red arrow in Figure 4).For this project, images of the Landsat 5 andLandsat 7 satellites with a pixel size of 30mhave been used. Their mulspectral sensorsThemac Mapper (TM) and Enhanced ThemacMapper plus (ETM+) onboard Landsat5 and 7 respecvely have been deliveringcomparable images since about 1984. Thismakes Landsat the best available satellite forlong term monitoring of environmental processesat a regional scale. A further advantageis that now the images can bedownloaded from the internet free of charge(for instance hp://glovis.usgs.gov/). Thismakes the assessment of coastlines even ona naonal scale affordable taking into consideraonthat e.g. South Africa’s coastline iscovered by about 20 Landsat images(compare Figure 1). However, for steepcoasts with narrow beaches spaally limitedbut relevant changes of the coast are likelynot to be detectable with Landsat. A retreatof the shoreline for 30 meters or more to bedetectable on a Landsat image might alreadybe a disastrous event for such areas. Forthose cases we will have to come up withsoluons using other satellites with a beerspaal resoluon. Potenal opons are usingSPOT 5 imagery (2.5‐20 m pixel size, ) orRapidEye (6.5 m pixel size, ), just to name afew.The results of the presented CSIR projectdemonstrate a soluon to assess the majorcoastal land cover types in a fast and efficientway and to monitor changes over me.It is in a ready‐to‐use state for environmentswhere the level of spaal detail provided byLandsat is sufficient, such as the shallowsandy coasts of the Western Indian Ocean.This approach can also easily be advanced toallow for the detecon of other relevantland cover types, such as mangroves, sedgesand selements for a more comprehensivepicture of dynamics of the coast as a baselinefor integrated coastal management solu‐ons.Vacancy forProfessor/Associate Professorin OceanographyThe University of Cape Town has astrong international reputation in oceanand climate research and teaching. Withinthe Department of Oceanography,particular areas of interest include theAgulhas and Benguela Current systems,the Southern Ocean, climate change andvariability, marine biogeochemistry andmesoscale meteorology. The departmentseeks to appoint a senior academic withresearch expertise in ocean, atmospheric,or climate modelling to complementand extend existing departmentalstrengths. The department has well developedcomputing facilities (includingaccess to the Centre for High PerformanceComputing), a marine biogeochemistrylaboratory, and access to shiptime for research cruises in the SouthAtlantic, South Indian and SouthernOceans.A PhD in Oceanography, AtmosphericScience, or related field is required. Theincumbent will be expected to contributestrongly to teaching at both undergraduateand postgraduate levels, develop his/her own research programme and raiseassociated research funding, and provideacademic leadership in the departmentand more generally within the Faculty ofScience.Figure 4: Subset of the Cape Agulhas Landsat image from 14 May 2003 and theclassificaon derived thereof. The red arrow indicates an area where vegetaonhas been detected in the water, probably kelp beds?Closing date for applications:1 October 2012Further details are available here.
Page 11SANCOR NEWSLETTER #200The inaugural winter cruise of the SA Agulhas IIBy Mthuthuzeli GulekanaDepartment of Environmental AffairsSouth Africa’s new polar ship, the SA AgulhasII, embarked on its inaugural cruise tothe Southern Ocean in July this year. Built inRauma, Finland, it was acquired for scienficresearch and supply (logiscs) purposes inthe South African research bases situated inthe Antarcca (SANAE IV) and the sub‐Antarcc islands of Prince Edward and Marion(hereaer referred to as “Marion Islands”).In early April 2012, the ownership of theR1.3 billion vessel was officially transferredto South Africa, under the custodianship ofthe Department of Environmental Affairs(DEA). At this handover funcon in Finland,the ship was dedicated to the memory ofMiriam Makeba, internaonal jazz arst andcivil rights acvist.On its arrival in South Africa in May, the shipwas christened by a sangoma (African spiritualhealer/doctor) who broke a calabash ofumqombhothi (African tradional beer) onthe ship’s hull to welcome it to South Africa.The arrival received extensive media coverageand aracted huge public interest. Theevent (coordinated by DEA) was aended bydignitaries including Minister of Environmentand Water Affairs, Ms Edna Molewa andDeputy Minister of Science and Technology,Mr Derek Hanekom.Welcome and christening of the SA Agulhas IIInaugural cruise track of the SA Agulhas IIWinter Shakedown CruiseAs the ship arrived, plans were already completedfor the mandatory inaugural or’shakedown’ cruise to the Southern Ocean,to test the ship’s scienfic equipment andmechanical capabilies to withstand theharsh and extreme condions that it wouldneed to endure for the next 30 years. Shakedowncruises also provide an opportunity tofamiliarise the operators with the vessel.Collaboraons were formed with sciensts,engineers and technicians from various instuonsand organisaons in South Africa toadvise DEA management on the assessmentof the ship’s capabilies.The major objecve was to sail the ship tothe Antarcc ice edge, in the SouthernOcean, where the ice is thick enough to testthe ship’s ice‐breaking capabilies (therewas insufficient sea ice in the Balc Sea). Thecruise track consisted of three legs: Leg 1: From Cape Town, towards theeast, southwest into the GreenwichMeridian Line and proceed to the iceedge Leg 2: From Ice‐edge northeastwardtowards Marion Island and finally Leg 3: from Marion Island northward toPort Elizabeth and finally to Cape Town(the cruise track is shown alongside).Each leg comprised of several staons wherethe Conducvity‐Temperature‐Depth (CTD)and eXpendable BathyThermograph (XBT)and Underway‐CTD’s (UCTD) were to bedeployed at predetermined locaons andmes. The Chief Scienst on this voyage, MrAshley Johnson (DEA), liaised with the shipofficers regarding crucial decisions aboutstaons. The Chief Scienst was assisted bytwo co‐principal invesgators (PIs), UCT’s Dr
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