ABSTRACT
Remote sensing will be treated as a parallel topic with aquatic optics, the general problem of extracting aquatic information from spectral data collected remotely over inland and coastal waters. From the perspective of aquatic optics, this change in photon flux is a direct consequence of the composite nature of the water mass under survey and, consequently, directly influences the manner in which remotely sensed data collected over that water body are to be interpreted. Radiance and irradiance are arguably the two most important terms required for understanding the behavior of photon flux. This should become very evident as the development of both in situ and remote sensing optical methods and algorithms unfold. Remote sensing of natural waters, however, must contend with light emanating from areas of extended sources of radiation as well as with light impinging upon extended surface areas which are not perpendicular to the selected direction of photon propagation.
