首先从卫星海洋水色遥感机理出发, 提出了水色遥感信息的两个特征量──归一化反照率(Albedo)和辐射信噪比(SNR).其次, 针对中国“九五”期间计划发射的海洋水色卫星的轨道参数和安装在卫星上的水色扫描仪(COCTS)水色通道为对象, 上中国海区为遥感目标, 通过两个特征量的模拟计算结果, 进行了大洋和沿岸两类不同水体信息特征量的比较。最后, 研究了信息特征量的时间和空间响应。研究的结果为中国计划发射的海洋水色卫星图像质量预测和应用潜力的评估提供了一定的科学依据。

The ocean color satellite is mainly used to observe the water content, such as chlorophyll, suspended material and yellow substance. The total radiance arrived et the sensor in the space is divided by the solar radiation as normalized albedo and coded to send back to the ground station. The ocean color are generally detemined by water content. They are monitored by measuring the water leaving radiation from ocean surface, which is a very small part of the total radiation received by the sensor. The most radiance is from atmospheric path and sun reflection of water surface. The radiation ratio of signal to noise from atmosphere etc. e. g. the ratio of the water leaving radiance to noise radiance, is characterized by the possibility of extracting the water color signals. It the paper, the signal characteristic scale (SCS) -normalized albedo and the radiation ratio of signal to noise have been firstly discussed, based on the mechanisms of the satellite ocean color remote sensing. For the radiation transfer of the ocean-atmosphere system, the transport of solar radiation is separated into various processes, such as the molecular and the aerosol scattering. Sun reflection of water surface and water leaving radiance can be computed by the radiation models, which are depended on the satellite orbit parameters (satellite altitude, inclination angle, crossing equator time and satellite fight direction), sensor properties (FOV, scanning rate, band wavelength), air condition (pressure, visual visibility, wind speed etc.) and water condition such as the concentration of the chlorophyll, suspended matter and yellow substance. Secondly, in the paper, it is focused on calculating the SCS of Chinese Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (COCTS) which is being planned to be installed in the first Chinese ocean color satellite proposed to launch during the period of Chinese Ninth 'Five Plan' Finally, the SCS response on the time and space has been studied in detail, with the calculation of SCS in various cases, such as different seasons which are substituted by the typical date Vernal Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, and different satellite passing local times from 8:00 to 15:00 as well as the different pixels in one scan line. The results of the study show that the SCS is a philosophic concept provided to predict the quality and to evaluate the availability of the imagery from the Chinese COCTS.