HICO L1 and L2 data processing: Radiometric recalibration, atmospheric correction and retrieval of water quality parameters

The Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) is an imaging spectrometer designed with a very high signal-to-noise ratio to monitor coastal ocean and inland waters. The processing of Top-Of-Atmosphere radiance data down to surface reflectance is fundamental for the retrieval of water quality products. However, the current HICO processing chain does not provide atmospheric corrected data nor higher-level water quality products. This paper describes the algorithms implemented within an HICO data processing chain that includes image pre-processing, atmospheric correction and the retrieval of water quality parameters. The implemented algorithms have been validated over a set of HICO images showing a good match with in-situ surface reflectance data and correlation (R² = 0.95) between in-situ measured and retrieved Chl-a over a water body. It is expected that the presented algorithms will ease the processing of HICO data down to surface reflectance allowing to derive water quality parameters.