Ocean Color product inter-sensor evaluation for HAB bulletins

摘要

NOS/NOAA routinely generates HAB bulletins for the Southeast US coastal waters over the Gulf of Mexico and Florida basin using ocean color products from SeaWiFS and lately MODIS sensor on Aqua. From the consideration of life and safety availability of products that can provide continuity in case the current sensors retire or fail before VIIRS becomes operational is very important. NOAA CoastWatch program is exploring the suitability of products from non-US satellite platforms as a possible option. We need to investigate inter-sensor product variation. We present results from such an evaluation study done with data from MERIS for the US coastal waters. A time series of the variability of color products available from the three sensors is presented. Comparisons are analyzed for different geographical areas and different optical ranges with a view to investigate systematic effects. We plan to extend this analysis to other sensors in future.