In addition to strongly influencing the nature and rate of the biological response to upwelling, light and turbidity factors also impact our ability to accurately measure these events.

Because there are so many factors that can contribute to and affect the duration and outcome of upwelling events, remote sensing is critical for monitoring rapid changes in factors that affect water quality, such as wind dust, and other atmospheric interference, tides, and human influences including pollution and runoff.

In the NASA image at right, we see higher turbidity (yellow, orange, and red) in Florida's Tampa Bay during December (left image) than in July (right). This correlates to a large decrease in water quality during the winter months compared to summer.