A physically based technology for processing of water basin remote sensing data

The Modular Inversion Program (MIP) is a processing and development tool designed for retrieval and mapping of hydro-biological parameters obtained from multiand hyperspectral remote sensing measurements. The architecture of the program binds a set of general and transferable computational schemes in a chain, connecting bio-physical parameters with the measured reflected radiance. The radiative transfer is simulated in MIP for a multilayer atmosphere-ocean system using the FEM method. Results of radiative transfer calculations are stored in a sensor independent form on hard disks avoiding in this way repeated solutions of radiative transfer equation. The adjustment of algorithms to sensor specifications is supported automatically in MIP. The program modules provide for the retrieval of atmosphere and water constituents, estimation of phytoplankton primary production, water column correction and classification of surface substrates. The processing system has been tested and validated on data of surveys of German inland waters performed by several airborne and satellite sensors.