Relevance of spectroscopic approach in the retrieval of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in case-II waters: An investigation in the high turbid waters of gulf of Cambay, India

Abstract

This study aims at analysing the spectral characters of high turbid coastal waters to retrieve the Suspended Sediment Concentration (SSC) in Gulf of Cambay, India. For this purpose, the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) data was processed using quasi-synchronous field, and laboratory spectral reflectance measurements. Spectral similarity between the image-spectra and library-spectra estimated by Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) algorithm was used to retrieve SSC. The result obtained by SAM algorithm was compared with Total Suspended Matter (TSM) and Suspended Sediment Matter Retrieval (SSMR) algorithms. It was found that for case-II waters, the longer wavelength (743 nm and 835 nm) is very sensitive to SSC changes. Hence, the SAM-based approach involving all wavelength regions is found to be very efficient and match with field measured SSC.