Elimination of bottom effects in SeaWiFS data of shallow water areas in the Pomeranian Bight of the Baltic Sea

Water constituent concentrations like phytoplankton pigment can be derived from measured reflectances in the visible spectrum of ocean colour satellite sensors. The reflectances can be disturbed by the bottom influence in shallow water areas depending on the water depth, the transmission of the water column, the reflectance of the water, the reflectivity of the bottom materials and the spectral range of the different sensor channels. The influence of the sea bottom on the spectral reflectances is studied for the example of the shallow Oder Bank in the Pomeranian Bight of the south-western Baltic Sea. The conditions of strong bottom influence are discussed on the basis of reflectance model calculations in the studied area. The procedure for the identification and elimination of bottom disturbed pixels is presented and explained with the example of one Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) scene.