Bathymetry and bottom albedo retrieval using Hyperion: a case study of Thitu Island and reef

The Spratly (Nansha) Islands in the South China Sea have considerable economic and important militarily strategic status. Ocean color remote sensing is an effective mean of surveying and research and especially it is useful for areas that are difficult to access, such as Thitu Island and its reef in the Spratly Islands. The Hyper-spectral Optimization Process Exemplar (HOPE) model, developed by Lee et al. (1999) is a rapid and robust bathymetry method that uses hyper-spectral remote sensing. In this study, using Hyperion hyper-spectral sensor data and HOPE, we derive bathymetry and bottom albedo measurements around Thitu Island and its reef. We compare the distribution of bottom depths from C-MAP with that derived from the Hyperion data. The retrieved bathymetry results correlate well with the distribution obtained from the bathymetry contour from 2.0 to 20 m. The average difference between Hyperion and C-MAP for two selected transects was 17.1% (n=59, R=0.848, RMSE=2.342) and 10.9% (n=59, R ²=0.834, RMSE=0.463). The retrieved bottom albedo is homogeneous in the lagoon and significantly non-homogeneous around the lagoon. These results indicate that HOPE could be very useful for bathymetry studies for the islands of the South China Sea.