Simulation and analysis of adjacency effects in coastal waters: a case study.

A methodology has been developed and applied to accurately quantify and analyze adjacency effects in satellite ocean color data for a set of realistic and representative observation conditions in the northern Adriatic Sea. The procedure properly accounts for sea surface reflectance anisotropy, off-nadir views, coastal morphology, and atmospheric multiple scattering. The study further includes a sensitivity analysis on commonly applied approximations. Results indicate that, within the accuracy limits defined by the radiometric resolution of ocean color sensors, adjacency effects in coastal waters might be significant at both visible and near-infrared wavelengths up to several kilometers off the coast. These results additionally highlight a significant dependence on the angle of observation, on the directional reflectance properties of the sea surface, and on the atmospheric multiple scattering.