Sensor Fusion in the Chromatic Domain: Expanding the spatiotemporal reach of the operational ocean color constellation

The operational ocean color polar-orbiting sensors (OLCI, VIIRS, MODIS, and others) are providing reliable and increasingly frequent observations of the ocean water-leaving radiance signal, and thereby providing the basis for inversion algorithms to estimate measurable sea surface quantities. Although much effort has been expended to ensure the accuracy of these “Level-3” inversion products, here we show that a colorimetry approach to ocean reflectance data allows for effective sensor fusion between ocean color satellite radiometers and non-traditional sources of ocean color information. Examples of this approach are provided in two areas: (1) merging OLCI and VIIRS reflectance data with GOES-R meteorological (ABI sensor) satellite data to resolve very high temporal resolution true color image sequences of the coastal ocean; and (2) merging these respective ocean color sensors with nanosatellite digital image data to resolve very high spatial resolution scenes (3 meters). Whereas accurate colorimetry analysis requires a hyperspectral signal across the visible, the potential application of these techniques to forthcoming hyperspectral satellite missions is discussed.