Approach for the long-term spatial and temporal evaluation of ocean color satellite data products in a coastal environment

P. Jeremy Werdell; Bryan A. Franz; Sean W. Bailey; Lawrence W. Harding Jr.; Gene C. Feldman

doi:10.1117/12.732489

9 October 2007 Approach for the long-term spatial and temporal evaluation of ocean color satellite data products in a coastal environment

P. Jeremy Werdell, Bryan A. Franz, Sean W. Bailey, Lawrence W. Harding Jr., Gene C. Feldman

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6680, Coastal Ocean Remote Sensing; 66800G (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.732489
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2007, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Ocean color satellites provide a mechanism for studying the marine biosphere on temporal and spatial scales otherwise unattainable via conventional in situ sampling methods. These satellites measure visible and infrared radiances, which are used to estimate additional geophysical data products, such as the concentration of the phytoplankton pigment chlorophyll a, C_a, via the application of secondary bio-optical algorithms. The operational C_a algorithms for the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), for example, perform well in the global open ocean, but often degrade in more optically complex coastal environments where global parameterizations are less applicable. Organizations such as the Chesapeake Bay Program, which have interest in using SeaWiFS and MODIS data products to facilitate regional monitoring activities, must rely on locally parameterized algorithms to achieve requisite accuracies. To facilitate algorithm selection, the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group recently developed the infrastructure to spatially and temporally evaluate a long-term regional time-series of satellite observations using in situ measurements as ground-truth. Here, we present this approach using a case study in the Chesapeake Bay, where a series of C_a algorithms and atmospheric correction schemes were evaluated for the full SeaWiFS and MODIS-Aqua time-series. We demonstrate how the selection of the best algorithms and processing approaches is driven by trade-offs in coverage needs and relative accuracy requirements. While our case study highlights C_a in the Chesapeake Bay, our methodology is applicable to any geophysical data product and region of interest.

Citation Download Citation

P. Jeremy Werdell, Bryan A. Franz, Sean W. Bailey, Lawrence W. Harding Jr., and Gene C. Feldman "Approach for the long-term spatial and temporal evaluation of ocean color satellite data products in a coastal environment", Proc. SPIE 6680, Coastal Ocean Remote Sensing, 66800G (9 October 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.732489

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