Evaluating ACOMP, FLAASH and QUAC on Worldview-3 for satellite derived bathymetry (SDB) in shallow water

Bathymetry map is instrumental for monitoring marine ecosystem and supporting marine transportation. Optical satellite imagery has been widely utilised as an alternative method to derive bathymetry map in shallow water. Nonetheless, interactions between electromagnetic energy and Earth’s atmosphere causing the atmosphere effects pose a significant challenge in satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) application. In this study, Worldview-3 imagery was used to obtain bathymetry map in shallow water. Three atmospheric correction models (ACOMP, FLAASH and QUAC) were employed to eliminate atmospheric effects on Worldview-3 imagery. Three simple band ratios involving coastal blue, blue, green and yellow band were used to test the performance of atmospheric correction models. ACOMP combined with blue and green band ratio efficaciously provided the best performance where it explained 77% of model values. Bathymetry map obtained from Worldview-3 was also validated using bathymetry data acquired from bathymetric survey over the study area. The estimated depths shared aggregable results with measured depths (depth < 20 m) with accuracy of 2.07 m. This study shows that robust atmospheric correction combined with suitable simple band combinations offered bathymetry map retrieval with relatively high accuracy