MCScene-Based Oceanic Radiative Transfer Testbed

There remains an urgent need within the Department of the Navy (DON) for a radiative transfer (RT) testbed that can accurately synthesize hyperspectral imagery (HSI) to support the design of remote sensing instruments, development of new retrieval algorithms, and quantification of uncertainties. However, remote sensing in the littoral zone requires accurate modeling of signatures in complex 3D environments which may include cloud fields, structured backgrounds, weather, rough sea state conditions, coastal influences, land topography, underwater turbidity, surface bathymetry and benthic cover, and embedded targets. To address the need for a testbed that permits modelling of complex littoral zone/maritime environments, Spectral Sciences, Inc. (SSI) proposes to develop COAST, the Coupled Ocean-Atmospheric Spectral-imagery Testbed, a verified (via code intercomparison) and validated (against HSI measurement data) product that combines maritime enabled extensions of the well-established 1-D (MODTRAN) and 3-D (MCScene) radiative transfer codes developed by SSI. COAST will enable users to simulate scenes easily and accurately with an arbitrary combination of land, shallow ocean, and deep-water elements.