GEOMETRIC CORRECTION AND RADIOMETRIC NORMALIZATION OF NOAA AVHRR DATAFOR FISHERIES APPLICATIONS

Sea surface temperature (SST) has been found useful for locating poten tial fishing grounds (PFGs). Thermal data of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiom eter (AVHRR) was acquired using a microcomputer (PC/AT 486) based Dire ct Reception and Processing Terminal (DRPT) developed in-house to map surface thermal fronts. Geometric correction using orbital ephemeris a nd ground control points (GCPs) resulted in locational accuracy of 1.7 3 km by 2.1 km. Besides, the corrections for artificially lowering SST in case of passes with large satellite zenith angles (LSZA) through a radiance normalization based on the mean vectors and dispersion matri ces to make it comparable with small satellite zenith angle (SSZA) pas s is presented in this letter.