Optical Models for Remote Sensing of Colored Dissolved Organic Matter Absorption and Salinity in New England, Middle Atlantic and Gulf Coast Estuaries USA

Abstract

Ocean color algorithms have been successfully developed to estimate chlorophyll a and total suspended solids concentrations in coastal and estuarine waters but few have been created to estimate light absorption due to colored dissolved inorganic matter (CDOM) and salinity from the spectral signatures of these waters. In this study, we used remotely sensed reflectances in the red and blue-green portions of the visible spectrum retrieved from Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) and the International Space Station (ISS) Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) images to create a model to estimate CDOM absorption. CDOM absorption results were then used to develop an algorithm to predict the surface salinities of coastal bays and estuaries in New England, Middle Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico regions. Algorithm-derived CDOM absorptions and salinities were successfully validated using laboratory measured absorption values over magnitudes of~0.1 to 7.0 m´1 and field collected CTD data from oligohaline to polyhaline (S less than 5 to 18-30) environments in Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island); the Neuse River Estuary (North Carolina); Pensacola Bay (Florida); Choctawhatchee Bay (Florida); St. Andrews Bay (Florida); St. Joseph Bay (Florida); and inner continental shelf waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

A global compilation of in situ aquatic high spectral resolution inherent and apparent optical property data for remote sensing applications

“…Chlorophyll algorithm improvements continue in response to enhanced spectral resolution and sensor capabilities of upcoming Earth Observation missions (O'Reilly and . Aquatic remote sensing is now being further used to aid the understanding of more complex dynamics including atmosphere-ocean heat exchange and the role and feedback effects of aquatic constituents, as well as alteration of phytoplankton community structure in a changing climate (Kim et al, 2018;Dutkiewicz et al, 2019;Del Castillo et al, 2019). These analysis approaches involve numerical modeling and analyzing radiometric variability of many spectral bands.…”

The AEROS mission: multi-spectral ocean science measurement network via small satellite connectivity

“…Ocean color serves as a proxy for monitoring several phenomena including ocean fronts, eddies, and fauna concentrations. It is also possible to extract measurements of Color Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) and other suspended particles from ocean color observations [24][25] [26]. Additionally, bio-optical measurements of both ocean color and CDOM are useful proxies for estimating Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) [27].…”

Remote Sensing of Floodpath Lakes and Wetlands: A Challenging Frontier in the Monitoring of Changing Environments

“…Comprehensive validation studies in remote sensing of water quality are much needed through collaborative team studies. For example, approaches in integration of remote sensing and field-based monitoring have been constantly explored for improving the understanding of spatial and temporal patterns of water constituents [138,139], such as Chl-a concentration, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total suspended materials (TSM), intensity of the sedimentation and effects of the human-induced hydrologic engineering projects on the water qualities for both inland and coastal waters [135,[140][141][142][143][144][145][146][147][148].…”