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A general algorithm to measure suspended

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A general algorithm to measure suspended matter concentration

in coastal and estuarine waters
Pierre Larouche1, Benoit Ricard1 and David Doxaran2
1

Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, C.P.1000, Mont-Joli, Qubec, G5H 3Z4 Canada

e-mail : Pierre.Larouche@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Laboratoire Ocanologique de Villefranche, Villefranche sur Mer CEDEX, 06238,

France

INTRODUCTION
Turbid waters are often found in estuaries and coastal zones where the transparency
reduction is partly caused by the presence of suspended particulate matters. The load of
suspended materials varies according to several factors, related to the regional
environment, which can be natural or anthropogenic. Traditional ship-based sampling
methods are expensive and they cannot evaluate the spatial and temporal variations
because of their punctual character. Synoptic measurements taken by airborne or satellite
spectroradiometer offer the advantage of covering rapidly a large territory and allow a
better estimation of the temporal variability.
The pronounced color signature from sediments suggest a potential remote sensing
approach to evaluate water turbidity, especially with hyperspectral sensors (Acker et al.,
2005; Bhargava and Mariam, 1990; Ritchie, 2005). Several models have been proposed
to link total suspended matter (TSM) concentrations to the spectral signatures. Some of
them showed significant relationships and succeeded in quantifying TSM with an
acceptable uncertainty (Doxaran et al., 2002a; Ouillon et al., 2004). Others studies
concentrated on the determination of optical water properties and sediments spectral
signatures by reproducing natural characteristics in laboratory (Chen et al., 1992;
Bhargava and Mariam, 1990; Novo et al., 1989). However, in all these studies, the data
used were specific to a particular environment characterized by a sediment type having
its own spectral signature. The aim of the present study is thus to evaluate the possibility
of establishing relationships between the water spectral signatures and TSM
concentrations for a large sample covering some coastal estuaries and environments in
the context of operational needs. For that purpose, we considered the assumption,
according to previous studies, that the first spectral derivative variations were
representative of TSM quantity (Chen et al., 1992; Goodin et al., 1993; Han and
Rundquist, 1997; Fraser, 1998 and Larouche et al., 2003).
MATERIAL AND METHODS
To reach the objectives, an important sample covering a broad range of concentrations
and representing distinct environments was used (Table 1 and Fig. 1). This sample was
divided in two sub-samples: one was used for the empirical analysis while the other was
dedicated for the validation. The main sample consisted of data from various canadian

environmnents: the St. Lawrence estuary, the Beaufort Sea and the Hudson Bay and
from the oueb Sebou estuary (Morocco). It is mainly representative of very weak
concentrations (< 1 mg l-1) which are essentially the measurements taken in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence river. However, the sample covers a range of concentrations between 0 and
400 mg l-1.
The validation sub-sample contains data from the Gironde estuary and the southeast coast
of the Vancouver Island (Canada) that is influenced by the Fraser river plume.
Table 1 Description and concentration ranges for each sampled environment. Samples are grouped
in two classes: Main is the data set used to build the relations and validation is the data set used to
confirm those relations.
Sample
Main

Validation

42
70
27
6

Max
(mg l-1)
372.30
7.78
8.13
1.74

Min
(mg l-1)
20.65
0.21
0.38
0.29

Mean
(mg l-1)
180.37
1.20
1.70
0.82

Std
(mg l-1)
105.36
1.25
1.87
0.51

133

3368.00

1.00

319.66

474.15

37

3.25

1.13

2.12

0.58

Region

Mission

oueb Sebou
St. Lawrence
Beaufort Sea
Hudson Bay

1997
1999-2001
2003-2004
2005
1996-1997
1999-2001

Gironde
southeast coast of the
Vancouver Island

2006

100

10

<
2
]2 0
0
40
]4 ]
0
60
]6 ]
0
8
]8 0]
0
10
]1
00 0]
1
]1 20
20 ]
]1 140
40 ]
]1 160
60 ]
1
]1 80
80 ]
2
]2 00
00 ]
]2 220
20 ]
2
]2 40
40 ]
]2 260
60 ]
2
]2 80
80 ]
]3 300
00 ]
]3 320
20 ]
3
]3 40
40 ]
]3 360
60 ]
]3 380
80 ]
4
]4 00
00 ]
4
]4 20
20 ]
]4 440
40 ]
4
]4 60
60 ]
]4 480
80 ]
50
0
> ]
50
0

Number of coupled measures

of TSMc and optical signature

1000

Concentrations range (mg l -1)

Fig. 1 Histogram of the TSM concentrations for all samples described in table 1.

Total suspended matter concentration was measured using either glass fibre filters having
a pore size of 0.7 m or in one occasion 0.44 m (Gironde). The above surface
radiometric measurements were made using either an ASD system measuring radiances
at 512 wavelengths between 320 and 1050 nm or a Spectron SE-590 having 256 channels
between 380 and 1100 nm (Gironde, see Doxaran et al., 2002b).
Reflectances (sr-1) were determined using equation 1 according to the formulas suggested
by the Ocean Optics for Satellite Ocean Color Sensor (Mueller and al., 2003) protocol,
using water-leaving radiance and total incident spectral irradiance, which is estimated
with a gray-card. All measurements were taken several times, between 5 to 20 spectrums,

to avoid errors of field acquisitions (waves, flutter, handling, movement of the boat, etc).
Moreover, operators took 1 to 5 sequences of measurements at each station.
RRS() = Lw() / [( x Sg()) / Rg()]

(1)

where Lw is the radiance measured by the sensor pointing towards water (W m2 sr-1); Sg
is the radiance measured by the sensor pointing towards a Lambertian graycard
reflector (W m2 sr-1); Rg is the known reflectances of that graycard (close to the
average value of 0.98 as certified by the Labsphere laboratory for 46 wavelengths) and
is theoretically the relationship between incidental radiances (Es) and near-Lambertian
surface radiances (Sg) and carries units of steradian from the integration over solid angle
(for more details, see Mobley (1994) chapter 1).
For the mains sub-sample, reflectances were estimated without the factor rho () that
describes the fraction of incident light reflected at the sea surface (Mobley, 1999). This
parameter was neglected because it varies according to sea conditions and there is no
consensus on its determination. Moreover, the algorithm has to be operational and robust;
not dependant of the measurement procedures (except for some basic protocols).
In opposition to the main sample, the effect of the incident radiance that has been
reflected by the sea surface was considered for the validation sub-sample in the
estimation of the remote sensing reflectance (RRS). Thus, Lw of the equation (1) was
replaced by Lt which is estimated through:
Lt() = Ls() + Lw()

(2)

where Ls represents the part of skylight reflected by the sea surface and Ls is the
radiance measured by the sensor pointing to the sky. In this case, the value was
assumed to be wavelength-independent and represents 2% according to Austin (1974).
All the spectrums were smoothed using a filter based on average of each seven points of
the ASD wavelength bands to reduce the noises from high frequencies (DemetriadesShah et al., 1990, Han et al., 1994). Starting from this new spectral curve, first derivative
was calculated which is the gradient between two consecutive wavelengths of the filtered
spectra.
RESULTS
To confirm that the algorithms found in the literature are not of a general nature, we
tested seven of them using our database. Each of these models was developed for a
specific range of concentrations and environment. Two of them, with correlation
coefficients of 0.27 and 0.16, do not seem appropriate, while others are not performing
well since the relative errors of predictions are very high (more than 100 %). Thus, we
conclude that those seven models can only be used for the region they were developped.

Table 2 Presentation of seven models based on distinct wavelengths and relations found in the
literature.
id

Authors

Sensor

(nm)

Range

Equation*
TSM concentration (mg l-1)

E*(%)

Tassan
and
Sturm
(1986)
Doxaran
et al.
(2002a)
Ahn et al.
(2005)
Fraser
(1998)

CZCS de
NIMBUS-7

510-530
540-560
660-680

25
(mg l-1)

Log(MPS) =A + B log (xs)

o xs = [RRS (550)- RRS (670)]
[RRS 520)/ RRS (550)]-1

0.83

0.27

Spectron
SE-590

550
850

13 985
(mg l-1)

MPS = Ax 3 + Bx2 + Cx + D
o x = RRS (850) / RRS (550)

34

0.97

0.16

ASD

555

MPS= A (RRS (555))B

220

0.82

0.81

232

Spectron
SE-590

429
628
695
544

0.2 120
(mg l-1)
1 82
(NTU)

MPS = A (Dev(429)) +
B (Dev(628)) + C (Dev(695)) + D

32

0.83

0.74

4928

MPS = A (RRS 544)) + B

Jorgensen
CASI
18
6
0.98
(2000)
(mg l-1)
MPS = A (B (Dev(727) - Dev(560)))
15
0.99
6
Chen et
IRIS
560
0 590
al. (1992)
(mg l-1)
40
0.97
7
Ouillon
Ocean
525-605
0.2 2.7
MPS = Ax3 + Bx2 + Cx + D
et al.
Optics
(FTU)
o x = RRS (563,5)
(2004)
USB2000
* RRS() is the remote sensing reflectance; Dev() is the first derivative spectra value and E is the mean relative error

0.76

2210

0.84

1498

0.83

1304

2
3
4
5

Our sample

Figure 2 shows the correlation analysis between the derivative spectra values and the
TSM concentrations (for wavelengths between 400 and 900 nm) for 2 ranges of
concentrations. It is seen that lower concentrations samples have a different spectral
correlation pattern than the higher concentration ones. The development of a statistical
model based on only one section of the spectra is thus considered inappropriate to cover
all the ranges of concentrations.
1
0.8

Correlation coeffcient R

0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
Total
Low cocentrations
High concentrations

-0.8
-1
400

450

500

550

600

650

700

750

800

850

900

Wavelength (nm )

Fig. 2 Correlation analysis between first derivative values and TSM concentrations (total;
concentrations < 10 mg l-1; and > 10 mg l-1) for each wavelength.

Our approach was thus to use the spectral derivative information to select the appropriate
model to apply to the radiometric measurements based on the low/high concentrations. It
was observed that the derivative spectra values associated to the 534 nm and the 783 nm

wavelengths present a relatively clear cut in the curve shape (Fig. 3) when reaching the
10 mg l-1 treshold. Thus, to apply the model related to low concentrations, derivative
spectra values must be lower than 1.45x10-4 sr-1 nm-1 at 534 nm and lower than 3.5x10-5
sr-1 nm-1 at 783 nm. This method using two wavelengths is more robust to eliminate
outliers as the values illustrated by a cross in Fig. 3A.
B)
400

350

350

300

300

Concentration (mg l -1)

Concentration (mg l -1)

A)
400

250
200
150
100

250
200
150
100
50

50
0

-2.00E-04 -1.00E-04

0.00E+00

1.00E-04

2.00E-04

3.00E-04

Derivative spectra (sr-1 nm-1)

4.00E-04

-1.00E-04

0.00E+00

1.00E-04

2.00E-04

3.00E-04

Derivative spectra (sr-1 nm -1)

Fig. 3 Relationship between TSM concentration and derivative spectra value for the main sample
data set where A) is corresponding to wavelength 534 nm and B) is corresponding to wavelength 783
nm. The vertical line represents the distinction between low concentrations, which are lower than 10
mg l-1 and high concentrations, over 10 mg l-1.

To estimate low TSM concentrations, we used the derivative spectral value at 534 nm.
For this wavelength, the relation fits an exponential model (Fig. 4A, Table 3). For
concentrations higher than 10 mg l-1, the model is based on previous work done by
Doxaran et al. (2002a). They observed that the reflectance ratio Rrs(850)/Rrs(550) was
strongly correlated to concentrations of TSM. For our dataset however, the correlation
was stronger by using the ratio Rrs(803)/Rrs(554). For the high TSM concentrations, the
model used is a quadratic polynomial curve (Fig. 4B, Table 3).
Table 3 Empirical models developped using the main sample where class selection is obtained
through:

if Dev(534) < 1.45x10-4 and Dev(783) < 3.5x10-5, MPS = Lower than 10 mg l-1 ;
if Dev(534) > 1.45x10-4 and Dev(783) > 3.5x10-5, MPS = Higher than 10 mg l-1
Model for TSMc *
Concentrations

(nm)
(mg l-1)
class

Lower than 10 mg l-1

534

TSMc = 1.051e17300(Dev(534))

0.86

103

Higher than 10 mg l-1

554
803

TSMc = 510.32(Rrs(803)/Rrs(554))2 - 134.74(Rrs(803)/Rrs(554)) + 38.6

0.98

42

* Dev() is the first derivative spectra value and Rrs() is the reflectance value

A)

B)

10

450

400
350

Concentration (mg l -1)

Concentration (mg l -1)

8
7
6
5
4
3
2

300
250
200
150
100
50

1
0

-2.0E-04 -1.5E-04

-1.0E-04 -5.0E-05 0.0E+00

5.0E-05 1.0E-04
-1
-1

1.5E-04

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

Derivative spectra (sr-1 nm -1)

Derivative spectra (sr nm )

Fig. 4 Relationship between TSM concentration and A) derivative spectra value at 534 nm for
concentrations lower than 10 mg l-1 and B) reflectance ratio (803 nm / 554 nm) for concentrations
above 10 mg l-1.

The very good R2 values indicate that the functions allow an accurate estimation of TSM
concentrations from hyperspectral measurements with a mean relative error of 27 % (32
% for values < 10 mg l-1 and 15 % for values > 10 mg l-1).
Once the performance of the algorithm was tested, we validated that result using the
independent sub-sample. Results (Fig. 5) show that the TSM concentration can be
estimated with an error of 35 % (45 % for values < 10 mg l-1 and 29 % for values > 10
mg l-1). This can be compared to the 8% precision obtained during strict laboratory
experiments by Chen et al. (1992). Six values located near the high/low concentration
limit were observed as wrongly classified. Values above 400 mg l-1 (n = 25) were ignored
in this test as this range of concentrations is considered exceptional.
r = 0.93
400

350

Estimation (mg l -1)

300

250

200

150

100

50

0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

TSM concentration (m g l-1)

Fig. 5 Comparison of TSM concentrations estimated by the algorithm using the validation subsample with correspondent in situ measurements.

DISCUSSION
The empirical models were built using a variety of samples gathered during dinstinct
missions (various geographical areas, different periods of the year, varied atmospheric
conditions, etc). Moreover, data were collected by different operators using measurement
protocols and data processsing that were different in some points. Despite these
differences, the good overall results show the robustness of the approach. The limit of
TSM concentrations assessment by our empirical models seems to be around 30 %. The
handling and calibration errors, the illumination conditions changes (in time and space),
the acquisition system and water movements, the specular reflexion and the presence of
whitecaps are all factors able to slightly influence the water reflectance values. Impact of
these on our results is amplified because the radiance spectra range is relatively small
compared with the TSM concentrations range.
TSM concentration values between 10 and 25 mg l-1 appear to be difficult to classify.
This range of values was not enough represented in our samples and more investigations
will be needed to improve the algorithm performance in that concentration range.
The derivative analysis allowed a clear distinction to be made between the low and high
TSM concentrations with a cutoff around 10 mg l-1. The use of the derivative at 534 nm,
located close to the wavelength of minimal light absorption by phytoplankton
(Cannizzaro and Carder, 2006), indicates that for low concentrations, the TSM spectral
signature is probably dominated by phytoplankton. Above the cutoff value, the spectral
signature of TSM appears to be dominated by inorganic materials leaving room for a
simpler band ratio algorithm.
CONCLUSIONS
By using data from six distinct environments, we demonstrated an approach to model
TSM concentration according to water reflectance with an acceptable precision over a
large range of values. The use of a novel approach based on the first derivative of the
reflectance spectra to discriminate between classes of TSM concentrations allowed the
development of a general algorithm that can be applied to various environments with an
acceptable level of precision (35% over the range 0-400 mg l-1). It would however be
interesting to test the algorithm using hyperspectral data from other environments such as
Asia or South America to further extend its range of applicability.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was made possible with the financial support of the Dept. of Fisheries and
Oceans Canada. Support was also provided by the Agence Universitaire Francophone for
the sampling in the oued Sebou, by the National Science and Engineering Research
Council of Canada for the sampling in the Beaufort Sea and Hudson Bay and by the
Dept. of National Defense for the sampling in the Vancouver island area. Thanks to JeanMarie Froidefond for allowing access to the Gironde database.

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