Atmospheric correction algorithm based on the interpolation of ultraviolet and shortwave infrared bands

Abstract

Traditional atmospheric correction algorithms of ocean color remote sensing are mostly based on the extrapolation of aerosol scattering radiance from a reference band (near infrared, shortwave infrared, or ultraviolet bands), which inevitably leads to the problem of extrapolation error amplification with the increase of extrapolation spectral distance. In this study, we propose a practical interpolation-based algorithm (named the UV-SWIR-AC algorithm) using three reference bands (one ultraviolet and two shortwave infrared bands) for turbid waters. According to 6SV radiative transfer simulations with 15 customized aerosol types, we establish a fitting function framework for the aerosol scattering radiance in the wavelength range of 322-1643 nm. We apply the UV-SWIR-AC algorithm to the real satellite ocean color data observed by the Second-Generation Global Imager aboard the Global Change Observation Mission-Climate (SGLI/GCOM-C) and compare the retrieved remote sensing reflectance with the in-situ data from the observation platform of Hangzhou Bay in the East China Sea and typical bays. The results show that the UV-SWIR-AC algorithm can achieve a better performance than the traditional, extrapolation-based algorithm in turbid waters. Moreover, in the typical regional analysis, this new algorithm also demonstrates a high applicability. The UV-SWIR-AC algorithm should be helpful to improve the atmospheric correction accuracy for next-generation ocean color missions (e.g., NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission and China’s Haiyang-1E/F (HY-1E/F) mission) with wider spectral ranges from the ultraviolet to shortwave infrared wavelengths.