Estimating the augmented reflectance ratio of the ocean surface when whitecaps appear

Abstract

The presence of foam influences the accuracy of satellite-derived water-leaving radiance. A model has been developed to estimate the augmented reflectance ratio (A(λ,U)) due to differences in the fraction of whitecap coverage (w) on the ocean surface. A(λ,U) can be calculated from the product of w and ρ(λ,U), where ρ(λ,U) is the augmented ratio of the reflectance of background water (Rb(λ)) caused by the presence of whitecaps. Our results showed that the average A(400~700,U) in the visible region was approximately 1.3% at U = 9 m·s-1, 2.2% at U = 10 m·s-1, 4.4% at U = 12 m·s-1, 7.4% at U = 14 m·s-1, 19% at U = 19 m·s-1 and 37.9% at U = 24 m·s-1, making it is necessary to consider the augmented reflectance ratio for remote sensing applications. By estimating remote sensing augmented reflectance using A(λ,U), it was found that the result was in good agreement with previous studies conducted in other areas with U from 9 to 12 m·s-1. Since Rb(λ) is temporally and spatially variable, our model considered the variation of Rb(λ), whereas existing models have assumed that Rb(λ) is constant. Therefore, the proposed model is more suitable for estimating the augmented reflectance ratio due to whitecaps.