Remote sensing of water quality

Water property data were collected within 3 cooling water reservoirs (active to inactive, large [1,068 ha] to small [68.6 ha]. oligotrophic to eutrophic) at 31 locations. A description of the water characteristics was obtained including algal pigments, total suspended particles, dissolved and particulate organic matter, and total particle absorption spectra. Field data included generated water volume reflectance spectra and secchi depth. Specialized regression techniques were used to derive specific absorption coefficients from measured water property concentrations and total particle absorption spectra. Subsequently, using first order approximations relating water volume reflectance to water intrinsic properties, generated absorption coefficients were combined with an optimization procedure that minimized the difference between the observed and predicted water volume reflectances resulting in specific backscatter coefficient estimates.