Atmospheric correction of SeaWiFS imagery for turbid coastal and inland waters

The standard SeaWiFS atmospheric correction algorithm, designed for open ocean water, has been extended for use over turbid coastal and inland waters. Failure of the standard algorithm over turbid waters can be attributed to invalid assumptions of zero water-leaving radiance for the near-infrared bands at 765 and 865 nm. In the present study these assumptions are replaced by the assumptions of spatial homogeneity of the 765:865-nm ratios for aerosol reflectance and for water-leaving reflectance. These two ratios are imposed as calibration parameters after inspection of the Rayleigh-corrected reflectance scatterplot. The performance of the new algorithm is demonstrated for imagery of Belgian coastal waters and yields physically realistic water-leaving radiance spectra. A preliminary comparison with in situ radiance spectra for the Dutch Lake Markermeer shows significant improvement over the standard atmospheric correction algorithm. An analysis is made of the sensitivity of results to the choice of calibration parameters, and perspectives for application of the method to other sensors are briefly discussed.