Radiometric measurement requirements to derive information on phytoplankton community composition from satellite

Abstract

The high spectral resolution of hyperspectral sensors is beneficial for distinguishing phytoplankton types, but the increased noise compared to multispectral land and ocean satellite sensors decreases the sensitivity to concentration changes. This study simulates for six water types (high/low concentrations of chl-a, CDOM and total suspended matter) the changes of remote sensing reflectance induced by a chl-a concentration increase of 30 % and by an exchange of the phytoplankton group at the example of four common phytoplankton groups (diatoms, dinoflagellates, green algae, cyanobacteria). It converts the reflectance differences to radiance differences at top of atmosphere and derives the signal-to-noise ratio required to resolve such changes of phytoplankton concentration