Optical Constituents Along a River Mouth and Inlet: Variability and Signature in Remotely Sensed Reflectance

The goal of our research is to improve our ability to assess and predict the distribution of optical properties in the coastal region. Our research in the New River Tidal Inlet had three primary objectives: 1. Measure the variability of optical properties in-space along a river mouth/inlet and observe the variability in time at a single position over a tidal cycle; 2. Relate this variability to the concentration and dynamics of dissolved and particulate materials, including variability in the particle size distribution; 3. Relate the optical properties to the ocean reflectance, so algorithms to invert surface color to inwater constituents can be tested and improved.
The original document contains color images.