Theses and Dissertations

ORCID

0000-0002-7295-8942

Advisor

Martins, Vitor

Committee Member

Sparks, Eric

Committee Member

Parajuli, Prem

Committee Member

Dash, Padmanava

Date of Degree

8-12-2026

Original embargo terms

Visible MSU Only 1 year

Document Type

Dissertation - Campus Access Only

Major

Engineering (Biosystems Engineering)

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

James Worth Bagley College of Engineering

Department

Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Abstract

Aquatic systems exhibit diverse optical properties, in which interactions between organic and inorganic matter and light generate distinctive spectral signatures captured by satellite sensors. Aquatic remote sensing aims to understand these interactions across various scales, ranging from in situ to orbital, each with its inherent limitations and challenges. In the new era of aquatic remote sensing, there is an increasing number of satellite sensors specialized in capturing these interactions, as well as techniques to extract more accurate information from these data. This dissertation explores and addresses some of the current challenges in aquatic remote sensing from the perspectives of multi-sensor approaches and new methodologies. The first part of this dissertation provides an overview of remote sensing for aquatic systems. The second part introduces Sentinel-2/3 Synthetic Aquatic Reflectance Bands (S2/3Aqua), a novel data fusion approach that produces eight 10-m synthetic bands via multivariate regression between Sentinel-2 MSI and Sentinel-3 OLCI image pairs. This method bridges spatial and spectral resolution gaps, enabling more reliable water quality mapping in small aquatic systems. The third part revisits glint correction algorithms for Sentinel-3 OLCI, addressing distortions caused by specular reflections of sunlight and skylight at the air-water interface. The fourth part presents the first global evaluation of remote sensing reflectance products from NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission. PACE is the first hyperspectral satellite designed to account for ocean-atmosphere interactions worldwide, with significant importance for the broader remote sensing community and aquatic applications. Finally, the fifth part proposes a new sensor-specific framework, Orthogonal Components of Water (OCW), to characterize the spectral composition of aquatic environments in a more interpretable way. Collectively, these contributions focus on a central question: how can aquatic remote sensing be advanced? This dissertation identifies key challenges and demonstrates innovative approaches to address them.

Sponsorship (Optional)

Mississippi Based RESTORE Act Center of Excellence (MBRACE) program [#8007148-04.01]

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