Optical remote sensing using satellites holds the promise of determining biological and optical properties globally. Much research has been carried out on the inversion of the spectral radiance signals detected by satellite. However, almost all inversion algorithms are based on the assumption of a homogeneous ocean. How do thin layers of particulate matter affect the reflectance of the ocean? A thin layer exhibits increases in absorption and scattering parameters (inherent optical properties, IOPs) (Preisendorfer, 1961) compared with surrounding waters. These increases are due primarily to phytoplankton and in a lesser degree to dissolved organic matter.

Petrenko, A.A., J.R.V. Zaneveld, W.S. Pegau, A.H. Barnard, and C.D. Mobley. 1998. Effects of a thin layer of reflectance and remote-sensing reflectance. Oceanography 11(1):48–50, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.1998.15.

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.