Above and in-water measurements of reflectance and chlorophyll algorithms in the Kaštela Bay in the Adriatic Sea

Development of both the spaceborne and the airborne multispectral and hyperspectral sensors have made the detection and quantification of pigments in the coastal zones within the feasibility realm. However, the Case 2 waters, due to their optical complexity and frequent changes in inherent optical properties (IOP) and apparent optical properties (AOP) require regular collection of in-situ measurements to optimize and tune the remote sensing algorithms to suit the local conditions. This paper reports on an ongoing study to better understand the bio-optical properties of the Kaštela Bay, located in the central part of the eastern Adriatic Sea coast, and to assess the need to develop a local remote sensing retrieval algorithm(s). During the three campaigns in 2009, in-water and above water reflectance were measured together with chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations at different stations in the Kastela Bay. In this paper different global and regional Chl a inversion algorithms were tested on the acquired data set.