Signal to noise ratio simulation of lake water color monitoring oriented satellite remote sensing system

Abstract

Signal to noise ratio (SNR) is of great significance to the satellite remote sensing system dedicated to the monitoring of lake water color. The technical requisites were set in this paper taking reference to the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS), which was aboard on the SeaStar. We simulated radiative transfer process from water-leaving radiance to apparent radiance on the top of atmosphere using 6S model, and calculated SNR based on the Equivalent Electron Theory. Our results showed that SNR in bands less than 500 nm was too low to meet the demand. Time Delay Integration (TDI) was essential in these bands. However, in bands greater than 500 nm, the SNR was higher enough (greater than 400), indicating there was still much potential to improve the spatial or spectral resolution in these bands.