Remote sensing of case II waters. Theoretical and experimental study

The authors have developed a radiative transfer code for a ocean-atmosphere system with a flat interface. This code is based on a Fourier series expansion of the radiance and on the method of the successive orders of scattering. With this code, they led a sensitivity study of the water reflectance to several parameters. The wavelengths chosen equalled the central wavelengths of SPOT spectral bands: 550 nm, 650 nm and 850 nm. They collected data on the physical characteristics of the main inorganic particles found along French coasts. Assuming the sphericity of these particles and applying the Mie theory, they calculated the IOPs of several cases of inorganic particles or suspended sediment matter. As reference case, they defined a model with an refractive index of m=1.16-0.0007i relative to refractive index of water and with a size distribution described by a Junge power law. The diffuse reflectance was computed above the surface water in a system without atmosphere, for the range of SSM concentrations 0-100 mg/l.