A Semianalytical Algorithm for Estimating Water Transparency in Different Optical Water Types from MERIS Data

Abstract

Water transparency (or Secchi disk depth: ZSD) is a key parameter of water quality; thus, it is very important to routinely monitor. In this study, we made four efforts to improve a state-of-the-art ZSD estimation algorithm that was developed in 2019 on the basis of a new underwater visibility theory proposed in 2015. The four efforts were: (1) classifying all water into clear (Type I), moderately turbid (Type II), highly turbid (Type III), or extremely turbid (Type IV) water types; (2) selecting different reference wavelengths and corresponding semianalytical models for each water type; (3) employing an estimation model to represent reasonable shapes for particulate backscattering coefficients based on the water type classification; and (4) constraining likely wavelength range at which the minimum diffuse attenuation coefficient (Kd(λ)) will occur for each water type. The performance of the proposed ZSD estimation algorithm was compared to that of the original state-of-the-art algorithm using a simulated dataset (N = 91,287, ZSD values 0.01 to 44.68 m) and an in situ measured dataset (N = 305,  ZSD values 0.3 to 16.4 m). The results showed a significant improvement with a reduced mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) from 116% to 65% for simulated data and from 32% to 27% for in situ data. Outliers in the previous algorithm were well addressed in the new algorithm. We further evaluated the developed  ZSD estimation algorithm using medium resolution imaging spectrometer (MERIS) images acquired from Lake Kasumigaura, Japan. The results obtained from 19 matchups revealed that the estimated  ZSD matched well with the in situ measured  ZSD, with a MAPE of 15%. The developed ZSD estimation algorithm can probably be applied to different optical water types due to its semianalytical features.