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Measurement of the surface emissivity of turbid waters

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Abstract

For interpreting thermal IR imagery of the ocean surface, the emissivity of the sea surface is usually assumed to be constant, approximately 0.98. However, the emissivity varies with the roughness of the sea surface, and the concentration and type of suspended particulates. The emissivity variations caused by the suspended sediments introduce significant errors in the satellite-derived temperature maps of turbid coastal waters.

We measured in the laboratory the thermal IR emissivity of water as the suspended sediment concentration was varied from zero to extremely high values. The results indicated that increasing the sediment concentration decreases the spectral emissivity within the 8–14 μm waveband.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin University China, Tianjin, China

    Liu Wenyao

  2. University of Delaware, U.S.A.

    R. T. Field, R. G. Gantt & V. Klemas

Authors
  1. Liu Wenyao
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  2. R. T. Field
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  3. R. G. Gantt
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  4. V. Klemas
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Additional information

Editor’s note A conference on West Pacific Circulation Influence in China Seas (WEPACICS) was held during November 10–14, 1986 in Qingdao, China, under the joint auspices of the Institute of Onceanology, Academic Sinica (IOAS) and the National Science Foundation, United States, and under the convernorship of Ya Hsueh, Florida State University, and Hu, Dunxin, IOAS. The primary subject of the conference is the influence of the West Pacific Circulation in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea through the intermediary of the Kuroshio. In the conference more than 20 papers were presented, summarizing the works on the interaction between the Yellow and East China Sea, and the oceanic circulation, and the research experiences gained in the studies of the Gulf Stream and its influences in the U.S. Coastal waters were shared. In order to facilitate scientific exchange we chose to published successively the significant papers presented at the conference in the journal.

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Wenyao, L., Field, R.T., Gantt, R.G. et al. Measurement of the surface emissivity of turbid waters. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 5, 363–369 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02843818

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02843818

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