Data processing and interpretation of sea radiance factor measurements

Problems in the interpretation of passive optical remote sensing data obtained by telespectrometric measurements on board a research vessel (or aircraft) are discussed. Two methods are considered: (1) The correlation method, where correlative relationships between the remotely sensed spectra and concentrations of optically active substances in the water are determined and corresponding regression formulae found; (2) the similarity method, where the remotely sensed spectrum is compared with the multitude of spectra obtained by means of model calculations. The application of these methods and analysis of the results are made using our remote and in situ data. It is found that the correlation method is far from being general (the regression parameters depend on the location, season and weather conditions), but it has the advantage of being applicable without the need to describe the aquatic environment by a theoretical model. The similarity method is much more general but involves difficulties in including the optical properties of the aquatic environment in the theoretical model, especially the backscattering properties of several types of suspended matter in the water bodies.
Some aspects of detecting oil-slick pollution on the sea surface by means of passive optical remote sensing methods are discussed and corresponding examples are shown.