Aerospace Monitoring of Water Quality

The potential of using remote sensing for the detection of chlorophyll-a (CHL), dissolved organic matter (DOM), and suspended matter (SM) concentrations in coastal and inland waters was investigated using measurements of (ir)radiance spectra along with simultaneous earth-reference data. The range of CHL was 0.1 to 350 μg/l, SM was 0.1 to 43 mg/l, and DOM absorption at the 380 nm was 0.1 to 10-1. Factor and signature analysis reveal allometric relationships between constituent concentrations C and functions of reflectance Zk of the type Ck = aZkb. Appropriate functions of R were found: Zchl = R(700)/R(675), Zsm = R(560)/R(520), and Zdom = {R(480) + k[R(700)/R(675]}/R(630). The maximum estimation errors were: CHL - 3 μg/l, DOM - 0.065 μgC/l, and SM - 4 mg/l