Shallow water Bio-optical Measurement

This dataset includes regional bio-optical observations from major Gulf of America (GoA) estuaries, along with additional field data from various U.S. inland and estuarine systems obtained through SEABASS collected with Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Science Team calibration and validation campaigns. This study focused on three key parameters: remote sensing reflectance (), Chl a, and phytoplankton absorption coefficiant (). However, is not consistently measured at all sites. In the GoA estuaries, surface radiometric measurements were collected with a GER1500 spectroradiometer to derive . Water samples were analyzed for absorption using a PerkinElmer Lambda 850 to derive (λ), and for phytoplankton pigments (e.g., Chl a) via High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Additional ––Chl a datasets from the Great Lakes (Erie, Michigan, Superior) were obtained from NASA’s SeaWiFS Bio-optical Archive and Storage System (SeaBASS).