Merger of ocean color information from multiple satellite missions under the NASA SIMBIOS Project Office

The purpose of data merger activities undertaken by the Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Studies (SIMBIOS) Project is to create scientific quality ocean color data sets encompassing measurements from multiple satellite missions. To meet this goal, a number of image processing and data fusion methodologies have been developed within the Project Office. A backpropagation neural network has been employed to map ocean color products from one sensor along with extracted ancillary parameters into products from another sensor. This enabled seamless fusion of data from both sensors to improve ocean color daily global coverage. Concurrently, statistical objective analysis has been implemented to validate the neural network approach. Wavelet-based image multiresolution analysis has been used to merge measurements from sensors of different spatial resolutions and also to examine the prospect of enhancing oceanic features in lower resolution imagery through the use of higher resolution data. Finally, a merger of satellite and in situ measurements has been developed.