An accurate estimation of the chlorophyll-a (Chla) concentration is crucial for water quality monitoring and is highly desired by various government agencies and environmental groups. However, using satellite observations for Chla estimation remains problematic over coastal waters due to their optical complexity and the critical atmospheric correction. In this study, we coupled an atmospheric and a water optical model for the simultaneous atmospheric correction and retrieval of Chla in the complex waters of the Wadden Sea. This coupled model called MOD2SEA combines simulations from the MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission model (MODTRAN) and the two-stream radiative transfer hydro-optical model 2SeaColor. The accuracy of the coupled MOD2SEA model was validated using a matchup data set of MERIS (MEdium Resolution Imaging SpectRometer) observations and four years of concurrent ground truth measurements (2007–2010) at the NIOZ jetty location in the Dutch part of the Wadden Sea. The results showed that MERIS-derived Chla from MOD2SEA explained the variations of measured Chla with a determination coefficient of R² = 0.88 and a RMSE of 3.32 mg·m⁻³, which means a significant improvement in comparison with the standard MERIS Case 2 regional (C2R) processor. The proposed coupled model might be used to generate a time series of reliable Chla maps, which is of profound importance for the assessment of causes and consequences of long-term phenological changes of Chla in the turbid Wadden Sea area.

Fixed automated (unmanned) above-water radiometric measurements are subject to unavoidable sky conditions and surface perturbations, leading to significant uncertainties in retrieved water surface remote sensing reflectances (R_rs(λ), sr⁻¹). This study evaluates various above-water R_rs(λ) glint correction methods using a comprehensive dataset collected at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) Jetty Station located in the Marsdiep tidal inlet of the Dutch Wadden Sea, the Netherlands. The dataset includes in-situ water constituent concentrations (2006–2020), inherent optical properties (IOPs) (2006–2007), and above-water hyperspectral (ir)radiance observations collected every 10 min (2006–2023). The bio-optical models were validated using in-situ IOPs and utilized to generate glint-free remote sensing reflectances, R_rs,ref(λ), using a robust IOP-to-R_rs forward model. The R_rs,ref(λ) spectra were used as a benchmark to assess the accuracy of glint correction methods under various environmental conditions, including different sun positions, wind speeds, cloudiness, and aerosol loads. The results indicate that the three-component reflectance model (3C) outperforms other methods across all conditions, producing the highest percentage of high-quality R_rs(λ) spectra with minimal errors. Methods relying on fixed or lookup-table-based glint correction factors exhibited significant errors under overcast skies, high wind speeds, and varying aerosol optical thickness. The study highlights the critical importance of surface-reflected skylight corrections and wavelength-dependent glint estimations for accurate above-water R_rs(λ) retrievals. Two showcases on chlorophyll-a and total suspended matter retrieval further demonstrate the superiority of the 3C model in minimizing uncertainties. The findings highlight the importance of adaptable correction models that account for environmental variability to ensure accurate R_rs(λ) retrieval and reliable long-term water quality monitoring from hyperspectral radiometric measurements.

In this study, the effect of tide on the variation of concentrations of Chlorophyll-a (Chla) and Suspended Particulate Matters (SPM), retrieved from a complete dataset of diurnal close-range hyperspectral observations recorded at the NIOZ jetty station (NJS) located at the Marsdiep inlet in the Dutch part of the Wadden Sea, was evaluated. The two-stream radiative transfer model 2SeaColor was inverted to retrieve Chla and SPM concentrations per each hyperspectral observation of the quality-controlled dataset. Concurrently with these diurnal observations, tidal information was obtained from the Den Helder station located at 3.7 km from the NJS. From the performed analysis and evaluation of this study, we concluded that the tide has little observable effects on the diurnal changes of SPM concentration at the NJS located in the Dutch part of the Wadden Sea. The results of this evaluation and the favorable location of the NJS, which is not influenced by the tidal phase, will contribute to a better understanding of the seasonal variability of the retrieved Chla and SPM concentration values using diurnal optical observations at the NJS. These long-term retrievals can be used later to do the phenological analysis of Chla concentration values in this region.