Evaluating Data Quality of Ocean Color Remote Sensing

Water-leaving radiance and remote sensing reflectance are measurements of various wavelengths utilized for the purpose of studying ocean composition, specifically the concentrations of chlorophyll, mineral particles, and dissolved organic matter. Remote sensing of ocean and coastal waters from satellite sensors poses challenges due to the fact that water-leaving radiance constitutes only about 10% of the total radiance captured by the sensor. As a result, a process of atmospheric correction is used to remove the effects of strong sky radiance, sun glint, and other extraneous factors on the data. The purpose of this study is to assess the accuracy of the resulting data by comparing the remote sensing data with measurements taken above the ocean surface from ocean platforms.

The CCNY students use data from the Coastwatch portal, which provides water radiance measurements that are used as the basis for satellite data validation. Stations include Long Island Sound Coastal Observatory (LISCO), Chesapeake Bay, Casablanca Platform, SeaPRISM, and AAOT. Students will gain hands-on experience working with this data and processing it from satellite sensors and ocean platforms to evaluate the quality of observations from NASA, NOAA, and the European Space Agency (ESA), including data from NASA's upcoming PACE mission. They will also engage with algorithms to estimate water parameters using remote sensing data.