Impact of the aerosol type on HICO(TM) atmospheric correction in coastal waters

The aim of this work is to evaluate the radiative impact of the aerosol type on the results of the atmospheric correction of HICO(TM) (Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean) hyperspectral data. The reflectance was obtained by using the HICO@CRI (HICO ATmospherically Corrected Reflectance Imagery) algorithm, a physically-based atmospheric correction algorithm developed specifically for HICO(TM) data by adapting the vector version of the Second Simulation of a Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6SV) radiative transfer code. The HICO@CRI algorithm was applied on six HICO(TM) images acquired in the Northern part of the Mediterranean Basin, using the micro-physical properties measured with a CIMEL sun sky-radiometer at the Acqua Alta Oceanographic Tower (AAOT) AERONET site and the optical properties of the maritime, continental, and urban aerosol types provided by default by the 6SV. The results highlight that the aerosol type can improve the accuracy of the atmospheric correction. Indeed, the accuracy of the water reflectance retrieved from the available HICO(TM) data decreases in the sensor spectral domain, considering the AERONET micro-physical properties, of 30% using the urban aerosol type, of 20% using the continental type, and finally of less than 10% assuming a maritime type. Thus, the aerosol type has to be taken into consideration in the atmospheric correction of hyperspectral data over coastal environment, if water quality analysis has to be performed, because of the influence of aerosol type on the water reflectance.