Performance Evaluation of Four Ocean Reflectance Model

Phytoplankton are the main factors influencing light under the sea surface in Case Ι water. The ocean reflectance model (ORM), which takes into account the chlorophyll a concentration data, can calculate the remote sensing reflectance of Case Ι water. In this study, we examined the differences and performance of four ORMs, including Morel and Maritorena (2001, MM01), Morel and Gentili (2007, MG07), Mobley (2014, MO14), and Hydrolight Abcase1 Lookup Tables. The differences between the four ORMs in terms of their absorption and backscattering coefficients were evaluated. Preformation of the four ORMs was compared using the NASA bio-Optical Marine Algorithm Dataset and in situ data from the South China Sea. The results showed that preformation of MM01 was the best.