Abstract
Accurate remote assessment of phytoplankton chlorophyll-a concentration is particularly challenging in estuary areas. The object of this paper is to calibrate the two Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land bands (band 1 and band 2) for chlorophyll-a concentration remote sensing in Pearl River Estuary, and to assess the accuracy of chlorophyll-a retrieval. A nonlinear two-band model was established between the ratio of band 2 to band 1 and the in situ measurements of chlorophyll-a concentration. The model can estimate chlorophyll-a concentrations with root mean square errors below 4.59 mg m−3, and the relative error of the estimated chlorophyll-a concentrations is generally less than 30%, with chlorophyll-a concentrations in the range 5 to 60 mg m−3. In addition, the influence of the chromophoric dissolved organic matter and total suspended matter are considered, and comparisons of the estimates with in situ data for the control point are also given. The model is then employed to determine the chlorophyll-a concentration distribution for Pearl River Estuary and adjacent coastal areas from MODIS data. The findings in the paper demonstrate that the MODIS land band can be used for chlorophyll-a concentration retrieval in turbid, productive estuarine waters.
Published Version
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