Interpretation of the colour spectra of coastal waters in function of their phytoplankton concentrations
Marchal, O. (1989). Interpretation of the colour spectra of coastal waters in function of their phytoplankton concentrations, in: Pichot, G. (Ed.) Progress in Belgian Oceanographic Research 1989: proceedings of the North Sea Symposium held in Ghent, 14 February 1989. pp. 31-53 In: Pichot, G. (Ed.) (1989). Progress in Belgian Oceanographic Research 1989: Proceedings of the North Sea Symposium held in Ghent, 14 February 1989. Management Unit of the Mathematical Model of the North Sea and Scheldt Estuary: Brussel. 451 pp., more |
| Abstract | The interpretation of the remote measured spectral reflectance of natural waters (which physically describes the intrinsic colour of the water) in function of their different optically active components, requires the development of three distinct algorithms. The last of those, the interpretation algorithm, must be first constructed from previous knowledge about the optical type of water encountered (optically defined essentially by the phytoplankton and its derivative products or by detrital inorganic particles and various sediments) and about the optical properties (spectral behaviour of absorption and (back- )scattering) of the studied in-water component (here the phytoplankton). With this in mind, a method (empirical or analytical) is used to infer quantitative information about this component from the observed spectral reflectance (R(À) curve), through the use of an appropriate interpretation algorithm. Results from three cruises in the Southern Bight of the North Sea seem to postulate the use of the R(435m) value (included for instance in a difference) in the interpretation method. Moreover several considerations tend to promote the analytical interpreta- tion approach in such turbid coastal and dynamical waters. |
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