Deriving water constituents: water clarity, turbidity, bottom type and depth from remote sensing continue to be a challenge in coastal waters. Because relatively large regions can be observed in a short amount of time, the development of data integration techniques to combine multiple elements from satellite and airborne sensors (i.e.: AVIRIS, Hyperion, EOS, MODIS and NPOESS) is highly desirable. Proficient implementation is also multifaceted. As concerns for homeland security have elevated to higher priority, characterization of littoral domains has moved from being driven by environmentally sensitive issues to politically vital matters. In the vulnerable transitional area between ocean and land there exists a void of defined parameters, confident characterization and reliable strategies for operational analysis. This paper surveys traditional optical and photonic techniques for the classification of maritime features, predominantly in the 0 to 100 meter depth range. We discuss the most recent methods and compare them by water depth and practicality as well as present the inherent physical limitations and constraints. The research presented here updates the ocean community and apprises security managers of the primary issues in using satellite and airborne data in littoral zones and suggests perfunctory paths for immediate innovation based on available techniques. This field has great opportunity for breakthroughs in technology such as the NGST "OnePicture Workstation" providing useful information for critical decision making. This work provides an overview of this emerging technology designed to benefit harbor defense/port security as well as promising strategies using data fusion, LUT, higher-dimensional analysis and new visualization techniques.

Date Published: 4 May 2007
PDF: 15 pages
Proc. SPIE 6540, Optics and Photonics in Global Homeland Security III, 654011 (4 May 2007); doi: 10.1117/12.723693

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6540:
Optics and Photonics in Global Homeland Security III
Theodore T. Saito; Daniel Lehrfeld; Michael J. DeWeert, Editor(s)