Apparent surface-to-sky radiance ratio of natural waters including polarization and aerosol effects: implications for above-water radiometry

Above-water radiometry (AWR) methods have been developed to provide “ground-truth” (or fiducial) measurements for calibration and validation of the water color satellite missions. AWR is also an important tool for environmental survey from dedicated field missions. Under clear sky, the critical step of AWR is to retrieve the water-leaving radiance from radiometric measurements of the upward radiance that also includes the reflection of the direct sunlight and diffuse skylight reflected by the wind ruffled water surface toward the sensor. In order to correct for the surface reflection, sky radiance measurements are performed and converted into surface radiance through a factor often called “sea surface reflectance factor” or “effective Fresnel reflectance coefficient”. Based on theoretical and practical considerations, this factor was renamed surface-to-sky radiance ratio, Rss, to avoid misuse of the term reflectance as often encountered in the literature. Vector radiative transfer computations were performed over the spectral range 350–1,000 nm to provide angular values of Rss for a comprehensive set of aerosol loads and types (including maritime, continental desert and polluted models) and water surface roughness expressed in wave slope variances or in equivalent Cox-Munk wind speeds, for practical use. After separating direct and diffuse light components, it was shown that the spectral shape and amplitude of Rss are very sensitive to aerosol load and type even for extremely low values of the aerosol optical thickness. Uncertainty attached to Rss was computed based on propagation of errors made in aerosol and surface roughness parameters demonstrating the need to adapt the viewing geometry according to the Sun elevation and to associate concurrent aerosol measurements for optimal AWR protocols.