novel technique to detect turbid water and mask clouds in Greenland fjords

• Published in: International journal of remote sensing 2016-04, Vol.37 (7), p.1730-1746
• Main Authors: Hudson, Benjamin D., Overeem, Irina, Syvitski, James P.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clouds; Fjords; Masks; MODIS; Mouth; Reflectance; Reflectivity; Saturation
• ISSN: 1366-5901; 0143-1161; 1366-5901
• DOI: 10.1080/01431161.2016.1157641

The existing National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MOD35_L2 cloud mask performance was assessed using imagery of Kangerlussuaq Fjord, Greenland. It was found to perform suboptimally, especially near glacially fed river mouths, due to sediment-laden water being highly reflective in near-infrared wavelengths. In situ observations of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) were compared against MODIS band 1 and 2 reflectance and show a reflectance saturation effect past which increasing SSC values fail to increase the reflectance of water. A new mask optimized for turbid waters uses the reflectance saturation effect observed in high-SSC water. This new mask and a custom adaption of individual tests within the existing MOD35_L2 cloud mask were tested. The new mask outperforms the standard MOD35_L2 mask and the combination of new and custom masks was shown to screen out clouds very well in Greenland fjords. It is thought that with local measurements of MODIS band 1 and 2 reflectance values of turbid water to serve as training data, this mask should perform equally well in other turbid coastal waters.