Evaluation of Atmospheric Correction Algorithms for Landsat-8 OLI and MODIS-Aqua to Study Sediment Dynamics in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Nazanin Chaichitehrani,Chunyan Li,Erin Lee Hestir

doi:10.4236/ars.2018.72008

Abstract

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) is regarded as an energy source and a water quality indicator in coastal and marine ecosystems. To estimate SPM from ocean color sensors and land observing satellites, an accurate and robust atmospheric correction must be done. We evaluated the capabilities of ocean color and land observing satellite for estimation of SPM concentrations over Louisiana continental shelf in the northern Gulf of Mexico, using the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat-8, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Aqua. In high turbidity waters, the traditional atmospheric correction algorithms based on near-infrared (NIR) bands underestimate SPM concentrations due to the inaccurate removal of the aerosol contribution to the top of atmosphere signals. Therefore, atmospheric correction in high turbidity waters is a challenge. Four atmospheric correction algorithms were implemented on remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) values to select suitable atmospheric correction algorithms for each sensor in our study area. We evaluated short-wave infrared (SWIR) and NIR atmospheric correction algorithms on Rrs products from Landsat-8 OLI and Management Unit of the North Sea Mathematical Models (MUMM) and SWIR.NIR atmospheric correction algorithms on Rrs products from MODIS-Aqua. SPM was retrieved from a band-ratio SPM-retrieval algorithm for each sensor. Our results indicated that SWIR atmospheric correction algorithm was the suitable algorithm for Landsat-8 OLI and SWIR.NIR atmospheric correction algorithm outperformed MUMM algorithm for MODIS.

Highlights

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) plays a major role in the biological and ecological status of inland, coastal, and shelf waters, and can cause detrimental effects on marine ecosystems [1] [2] [3] and has a strong influence on the phytoplankton productivity and abundance by changing photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and euphotic depth [4]
We evaluated short-wave infrared (SWIR) and NIR atmospheric correction algorithms on Rrs products from Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Management Unit of the North Sea Mathematical Models (MUMM) and SWIR.NIR atmospheric correction algorithms on Rrs products from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-Aqua
Comparison of Atmospheric Correction Approaches The Landsat-8 OLI remote sensing reflectance products at 443, 483, 561 and 655 nm bands were corrected for atmospheric effects using ACOLITE SWIR and NIR

Summary

Introduction

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) plays a major role in the biological and ecological status of inland, coastal, and shelf waters, and can cause detrimental effects on marine ecosystems [1] [2] [3] and has a strong influence on the phytoplankton productivity and abundance by changing photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and euphotic depth [4]. With the advent of satellite-based sensors and computer simulation packages, some studies on SPM dynamics with a high spatial and temporal resolution have been done [5] [6] [7]. Landsat-8 was launched on February 11, 2013 and started operating on May 30, 2013 It has 11 spectral bands (433 - 12,500 nm), spatial resolutions of 30 m and m in the panchromatic band, and a revisit time of days. The high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the 12-bit quantization combined with 30 m spatial resolution of the Landsat-8 OLI enhance our ability to monitor SPM dynamics in coastal waters [11] [12]. With a designed revisit time of 16-days and an effective revisit time of c.a. seasonal when cloud cover is taken into account [13], Landsat’s temporal resolution is highly limited for studying the SPM dynamics over regions with the high sediment dynamics regime

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