EO·Atlas
Ocean colour / water-leaving radiance
Retrieves chlorophyll-a concentration, CDOM, and suspended sediment from spectrally resolved water-leaving radiance; good for marine primary production, harmful algal bloom detection, and coastal water quality.
Atmospheric correction removes >90% of the top-of-atmosphere signal before water-leaving radiance is retrieved. Band-ratio empirical algorithms (OC4/OC5/OC6) or semi-analytical inversion for optically complex coastal/inland waters. Wikipedia: Ocean color
- MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer)
- Marmoris Coastal Ecosystem Insights
- China Ocean Colour and Temperature Scanner
via HY-1D
HY-1D COCTS is the ocean-colour scanner payload listed for the operational HY-1D mission.
- Second Generation Global Imager (SGLI)
via GCOM-C (Shikisai)
SGLI bands are designed for ocean-colour and water-leaving-radiance retrieval products.
- Geostationary Ocean Color Imager II (GOCI-II)
via GEO-KOMPSAT-2B
GOCI-II demonstrates geostationary ocean-colour water-leaving radiance retrieval on GEO-KOMPSAT-2B.
- Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI)
via Sentinel-3B
OLCI demonstrates ocean-colour and land-colour retrieval on Sentinel-3B.
- Ocean Color Monitor 3
via Oceansat-3
OCM-3 is the ocean-colour payload on Oceansat-3.
- Ocean Color Instrument
via PACE
OCI is PACE's hyperspectral imaging radiometer for ocean-colour observations.
- HY Ultraviolet Imaging and Calibration Sensor
via HY-1D
UVI provides UV-A radiance at 355nm and 385nm used for vicarious calibration of COCTS ocean colour products and atmospheric correction of turbid coastal waters; demonstrated operationally on HY-1D
- MariMap
MariMap ingests satellite context layers including chlorophyll and turbidity proxies consistent with ocean colour / water-leaving radiance retrieval products, used for site environmental context.
- OceanTech R&D
OceanTech R&D ingests public satellite ocean colour products (turbidity, chlorophyll proxies, water quality) as environmental context layers for coral reef, seagrass, and mangrove monitoring.
- Coastal Zone Imagerpending review
CZI 4-band (460,560,650,825 nm) used for coastal water quality and HAB detection; 4 bands below ocean-colour-method minimum of 5 bands hence capable-pending-review
Derives vegetation health, density, and phenology indicators (NDVI, EVI, SAVI) from red and NIR band ratios; good for crop monitoring, deforestation alerts, and land cover change detection.
Images the sea surface in sun-glint geometry, where surface-slope modulation of reflected sunlight reveals wave patterns and roughness; supports wave-spectrum and roughness estimation under clear-sky, suitable-illumination conditions. A complementary optical method, not an all-weather baseline.
Measures calibrated night-time visible to near-infrared radiance from low-light imagers, supporting economic activity, electrification, outage, urbanisation, and light-pollution analyses.
- [1]Wikipedia: Ocean colorcommunity2026-05-22
Edited from public sources. Last reviewed 2026-05-22 by SpectraWorks editorial. See the data dictionary for field definitions.
How to cite this page
Plain text
Ocean colour / water-leaving radiance. EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V., last reviewed 2026-05-22. https://eo-atlas.org/topics/methodologies/ocean-colour-water-leaving-radiance (CC BY 4.0)
BibTeX
@misc{eoatlas:topics:methodologies:ocean-colour-water-leaving-radiance,
title = {Ocean colour / water-leaving radiance},
author = {{EO-Atlas}},
publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
year = {2026},
note = {Last reviewed 2026-05-22. CC BY 4.0},
url = {https://eo-atlas.org/topics/methodologies/ocean-colour-water-leaving-radiance}
}