COMBINED USE OF SPECTRAL BRIGHTNESS AND POLARIZATION CHARACTERISTICS OF UPWARD RADIATION IN REMOTE-SENSING OF INLAND WATER BODIES

In freshwater bodies, the presence of considerable amounts of opticall y active components with a high changeability of qualities makes the i nterpretation of remote sensing measurements difficult, when these are based only on the upward radiation brightness characteristics. A high er information content and reliability of measurements in such cases m ay be ensured by means of a combined use of both the brightness and de gree of polarization of the upwelling radiation. An experimental test of this approach was made in Lake Onega. The effective wavelength, obt ained from the spectral distribution of the brightness coefficient, wa s considered a brightness characteristic. Water quality indices were d etermined with the help of multiple regression equations. The obtained correlation coefficient for relative water transparency is R = 0.78 /- 0.06 and the regression level average quadratic error is S-z = +/- 0.32 m.