Remote sensing of water clarity and suspended sediments in coastal waters

Processing of data for estimation of suspended sediment concentrations and water clarity in turbid coastal water requires three components: (1) correction of raw data to water reflectance; (2) establishment of appropriate general models relating reflectance characteristics to materials in the water; and (3) determination of the coefficients of the models appropriate for the area under study. This paper presents equations and procedures appropriate for this processing. It provides example coefficients and data for the NOAA advanced very high resolution radiometer, which is the most appropriate sensor for investigating larger estuaries and turbid coastal systems until the launch of an ocean color imager (SeaWiFS) in late 1993.