A Tool That Calculates The Sea-Surface Reflectance Factor In Customized Environments And Geometry

The sea-surface reflectance factor (ρ) is critical in above-water measurements of remote sensing reflectance of water. A spectrally constant value of 0.028 for ρ is commonly used in ocean-color remote sensing with a viewing zenith angle of 40 degrees and a relative azimuth angle of 135 degrees. We evaluated the spectral dependence of ρ with varying wind speeds, solar zenith angles, and aerosol loading, and found that 0.028 for ρ should only be used when the wind speed is lower than 5 m/s and the solar zenith angle is larger than 10 degrees. The impact of aerosol loading on ρ can be significant when the above conditions are only met marginally. An open-source tool is provided for users to construct tabular values of ρ for customized environments and viewing geometry.