Evaluation of the potential of the Thematic Mapper for marine application

Abstract

The potential of the Thematic Mapper (TM) on board Landsal-5 for marine applications has been investigated with reference to the well-known performance of the Coastal Zone Color Scanner of Nimbus-7. The study consisted of (a) a sensitivity analysis, considering such fundamental error sources as retrieval algorithm sensitivity, atmospheric correclion, instrument noise and signal digitization and (b) the interpretation of a TM scene by the procedure suggested in (a). The evidence provided by the experimental test validated the positive conclusions of the theoretical work, indicating that the analysis of TM bands 1 to 4 data should be capable of yielding quantitative information of satisfactory quality on fundamental water quality parameters, such as chlorophyll (i.e. phytoplankion) and suspended sediment concentrations.