Use of Principal Components Analysis Techniques on Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner Data to Define Mesoscale Ocean Features through a Warm Humid Atmosphere

摘要

The Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) has the unique potential to remotely sense mesoscale ocean features through warm, humid atmospheres that are opaque to thermal infrared sensors. The major obstacle to the use of these data is the masking effect of sunlight backscattered by the atmosphere. This study details a new atmospheric correction method, employing principal component analysis techniques, that effectively removes the atmospheric radiance from CZCS images of the ocean. The method has the advantage of ease of use and, hence, allows the CZCS data to be incorporated into routine naval environmentally-oriented operations. The study shows the method to be especially effective in the descriptive analyses of mesoscale oceanic phenomena. Four examples of the use of the technique are presented for three different ocean areas.