Ocean-color optical property data derived from the Japanese Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner and the French Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances: a comparison study

We describe our efforts to study and compare the ocean-color data derived from the Japanese Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) and the French Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (POLDER). OCTS and POLDER were both on board Japan's Sun-synchronous Advanced Earth Observing Satellite from August 1996 to June 1997, collecting approximately 10 months of global ocean-color data. This operation provided a unique opportunity for the development of methods and strategies for the merging of ocean-color data from multiple ocean-color sensors. We describe our approach to the development of consistent data-processing algorithms for both OCTS and POLDER and the use of a common in situ data set to calibrate vicariously the two sensors. Therefore the OCTS- and POLDER-measured radiances are bridged effectively through common in situ measurements. With this approach to the processing of data from two different sensors, the only differences in the derived products from OCTS and POLDER are the differences that are inherited from the instrument characteristics. Results show that there are no obvious bias differences between the OCTS- and POLDER-derived ocean-color products, whereas the differences due to noise, which stem from variations in sensor characteristics, are difficult to correct at the pixel level. The ocean-color data from OCTS and POLDER therefore can be compared and merged in the sense that there is no significant bias between two.