A fuzzy logic classification scheme for selecting and blending satellite ocean color algorithms

An approach for selecting and blending bio-optical algorithms is demonstrated using an ocean color satellite image of the northwest Atlantic shelf. This approach is based on a fuzzy logic classification scheme applied to the satellite-derived water-leaving radiance data, and it is used to select and blend class-specific algorithms. Local in situ bio-optical data were used to characterize optically-distinct water classes a priori and to parameterize algorithms for each class. Although the algorithms can be of any type (empirical or analytical), this demonstration involves class-specific semi-analytic algorithms, which are the inverse of a radiance model. The semi-analytic algorithms retrieve three variables related to the concentrations of optically active constituents. When applied to a satellite image, the fuzzy logic approach involves three steps. First, a membership function is computed for each pixel and each class. This membership function expresses the likelihood that the measured radiance belongs to a class with a known reflectance distribution. Thus, for each pixel, class memberships are assigned to the predetermined classes on the basis of the derived membership functions. Second, three variables are retrieved from each of the class-specific algorithms for which the pixel has membership. Third, the class memberships are used to weight the class-specific retrievals to obtain a final blended retrieval for each pixel. This approach allows for graded transitions between water types, and blends separately tuned algorithms for different water masses without suffering from the patchwork quilt effect associated with hard-classification schemes.