Sea truth and environmental characterization studies of mobile bay, Alabama, utilizing ERTS-1, data collection platforms

An evaluation of the scientific performance of two instrumented buoys, functioning as ERTS-1 data collection platforms, was carried out. Surface hydrographic data, taken over a 7 month period, were utilized as sea truth data to support ERTS-1 imagery and as time series data for environmental characterization studies. The results suggest that the sea truth application, which requires data only once every 18 days, cannot necessarily justify the use of data collection platforms. On the other hand, the time series application showed great promise because it utilizes the entire data base generated by the buoys.