Optimization of spectral bands for ocean colour remote sensing of aquatic environments

Selection of central wavelengths, bandwidths and the number of spectral bands of any sensor to be flown on a remote sensing satellite is important to ensure discriminability of targets and adequate signal-to-noise ratio for the retrieval of parameters. In recent years, a large number of spectral measurements over a wide variety of water types in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal have been carried out through various ship cruises. It was felt pertinent to use this precious data set to arrive at meaningful selection of spectral bands and their bandwidths of the ocean colour sensor to be flown on the forthcoming Oceansat-3 of ISRO. According to IOOCG reports and studies by Lee and Carder (2002) it is better for a sensor to have ~15 bands in the 400-800 nm range for adequate derivation of major properties (phytoplankton biomass, colored dissolved organic matter, suspended sediments, and bottom properties) in both oceanic and coastal environments from observation of water colo