The derivative ratio algorithm: avoiding atmospheric effects in remote sensing

The author describes the development of the derivative ratio algorithm based on derivatives of a simple radiative transfer equation. The limiting conditions of the algorithm are derived and demonstrated using examples of reflectance spectra of turbid water and an ash leaf. For these example targets, the algorithm indicates that some spectral features do survive the trip through the atmosphere and are recognizable using ratios of the spectral derivatives. The most detectable spectral features tended to be those that spanned bandwidths substantially larger than the minimum bandwidth tested (10 nm)