Optically shallow waters: modelling of radiometric color and development of water quality retrieval algorithms

Based on a previously developed hydro-optical model and models simulating solar light absorption, elastic scattering, water Raman scattering, phytoplankton chlorophyll and dissolved organics fluorescence, as well as the light reflection at the bottom and the incident radiation spectral distribution, numerical simulations have been conducted to attain an adequate insight into water color formation. On this foundation, the authors assess the impact of the above mechanisms of light interactions in natural aquatic media on the water-leaving radiance spectral composition. The authors develop an approach for the simultaneous retrieval of both the concentration vector of major optically active components coexisting in natural water bodies and the bottom depth given the bottom spectral albedo