Estimates of water quality in coastal waters using multi-date Landsat Thematic Mapper data

An evaluation of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data for the routine monitoring of surface chlorophyll concentration (C) and Secchi disk depth (SOD, a measure of the water clarity) used Cockburn Sound as a study area. Multi-temporal empirical algorithms to predict these parameters have been developedfrom the atmospherically-corrected satellite-received radiance and field data collected at the time of the satellite overpass. Highly significant, predictive algorithms for the surface C (range: 0·2–2·7 μg 1−1) and SOD (range: 4–15m) were obtained using bands I and 3 of the Thematic mapper. It is shown that a high confidence may be placed on the predictions using these algorithms and therefore it offers a cost-effective tool for complementing regular monitoring programmes.