Performance of Meris Products in Lake Victoria

The newly finished ESA project MERIS Lakes included activity in Lake Victoria to show the potensial for monitoring this eutrophic African Lake. In this study an evaluation of how different processors perform in Lake Victoria. Lack of proper validation data makes it only possible to have a preliminary assessment of the performance of the product algal_2, suspended material and the signal depth, Z90_max. The validation is based on the MERIS Level 2 Reduced Resolution data processed by using the Eutrophication processor developed under the ESA contract and the Case2Regional processor. The study showed that the choice of proper processor and their training of them are critical. It was also shown that the product Z90_max showed reasonable good correlation and quantification relative the in situ data. TSM and algal_2 had very few in situ data for validation. However, if the correct training of the processors can be performed with data following the validation protocols and us of correct conversion factor there is potensial to develop of satellite product for Lake Victoria.