A new algorithm for retrieving optical thickness and surface reflectance from satellite data observed in the visible bands has been developed. The radiance at the top of the atmosphere in satellite remote sensing is a function of two unknown variables, surface reflectance and aerosol optical thickness . There is only one observation available in data for each pixel in the visible bands in conventional atmosphere correction for ocean-color sensors, such as SeaWiFS, MODIS, GLI, and MERIS. The spectral characteristics of are required to solve and . The proposed algorithm can solve simultaneous equations of two unknown variables, optical thickness and surface reflectance. This method is validated against GLI data, which yields two independent data values for one pixel in both tilt and nadir viewing. The spectral characteristics are not incorporated in this method.

We also attempt to estimate the chlorophyll concentration from the MISR data acquired from three viewing angles from nine cameras on board the Terra mission satellite. Significant results were obtained but have yet to be validated by in-situ observations.