Ocean colour remote sensing is commonly used in understand the composition of constituents both suspended in the water column and underneath the water column in shallow waters. With remote sensing, the biological or physical variables are measured within the environment (in situ). This is opposed to collecting samples for analysis in the lab.

When measuring optical properties in the water column, sensors are either active or passive.

Models of Water Colour

edit

When deriving biophysical measurements from water colour measurements, there are three common approaches to represent the relationship. The simplest is an empirical model, which is based on an assumption of an biophysical variable's optical characteristic. The next two, semi-analytical and analytical, are grounded in defined optical characteristics of the water characteristics. These used defined optical characteristics are referred to as inherent optical properties (IOP).

Empirical Models

edit

Semi-Analytical Models

edit

Analytical Models

edit

Water type classification

edit

Passive versus Active Remote Sensing

edit

Common Techniques

edit

Satellite Remote Sensing

edit

Need to handle atmospheric correction.

Broken down into three major fields

  1. Open ocean
  2. Coastal or inland optically deep
  3. Optically shallow waters

CZCS, SeaWiFS, MODIS/Aqua, MERIS

Kd Sensor

edit

Fluorescence Sensors

edit
Chlorophyll-a
edit

both passive and active.

CDOM
edit

References

edit