Using Landsat-Derived Water Quality Data to Select Aquaculture Sites in Tongoy Bay, Chile

Coastal shellfish aquaculture in Tongoy Bay, Chile, experiences significant interannual variability in scallop larval supply, with the underlying drivers remaining unclear. This study uses Landsat-8 and Landsat-9 imagery from 2023, corrected atmospherically using Acolite and derived water quality parameters such as sea surface temperature, turbidity and chlorophyll-a concentration (chl-a). These parameters were used as inputs for the Oyster Suitability Index (OSI). Additionally, OSI images were classified into quartiles, identifying pixels consistently within the highest-value quartile to assess the stability of potential aquaculture areas over time. Results reveal high OSI values near zones with elevated phytoplankton biomass, suggesting temperature as a primary driver affecting both OSI and larval development. These findings highlight remote sensing potential as a powerful tool to assess aquaculture conditions in real-time. However, further studies are needed to understand the long-term impacts on larval supply and overall productivity in these ecosystems.