Sun Glint Correction Based on BRDF Model for Improving the HY-1C/COCTS Clear-Sky Coverage

The Haiyang-1C (HY-1C) satellite was launched on September 7, 2018. The Chinese Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (COCTS) onboard HY-1C has the capacity for ocean color and sea surface temperature (SST) observations. The sun glint reflected on sea surface can interfere with the radiance reaching the field of view of satellite sensor, leading to the higher reflectance that is misclassified as cloud and restrictions of satellite data availability. Due to the lack of ability to avoid sun glint, the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model is implemented in the sun glint correction of HY-1C/COCTS visible images. The atmospheric direct transmittance is calculated by aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Rayleigh optical depth (ROD). The comparisons before and after sun glint correction of visible images at different locations and different time are discussed and analyzed. The spectra are compared before and after the sun glint correction, and it has an obvious decrease in both radiance and reflectance. The performance of the BRDF model in low, moderate, and severe glint contaminations is compared. The results indicate that the BRDF model is useful in the sun glint correction of visible bands and leading to more HY-1C/COCTS clear-sky coverage, as consequence can be applied as the preprocessing in the cloud detection and SST retrieval to improve the clear-sky coverage.