A new approach to quantify chlorophyll-a over inland water targets based on multi-source remote sensing data

Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration is a reliable indicator of phytoplankton biomass and eutrophication, especially in inland waters. Remote sensing provides a means for large-scale Chl-a estimation by linking the spectral water-leaving signal from the water surface with in situ measured Chl-a concentrations. Single-sensor images cannot meet the practical needs for long-term monitoring of Chl-a concentrations due to cloud cover and satellite operational lifetimes. However, quantifying long-term inland water Chl-a concentrations using multi-source remote sensing data remains a problem, as improper input of satellite reflectance products will affect the accuracy of Chl-a over inland waters, as well as existing models cannot meet the need for multi-source remote sensing data to retrieve high precision Chl-a. To explore these problems towards a solution, four reflectance data derived from Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI), MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI), and Operational Land Imager (OLI) were evaluated against in situ measurements of Erhai Lake. Reflectance data from these sensors were assessed to determine their consistency. Results indicate that R_rhos products (i.e., surface reflectance, a semi-atmospheric correction reflectance) that controlled for the atmospheric diffuse transmittance were highly correlated with the measured reflectance values. The in situ reflectance also confirmed the higher fidelity of satellite reflectance in the green-red band. Subsequently, a new extreme gradient boosting (XGB) model applied to multi-source remote sensing data is proposed to estimate long-term inland water Chl-a concentrations. Comparative experiments showed the XGB model with R_rhos products outperformed other solutions, providing accurate estimates for daily, monthly, and long-term trends in Erhai Lake. The XGB model was finally processed 3954 R_rhos reflectance data derived from OLCI, ENVISAT Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), MSI, and OLI sensors, mapping Chl-a concentrations in Erhai Lake over a 20-year period. This study could serve as a reference for the long-term Chl-a monitoring using multi-source remote sensing data to support inland lake management and future water quality evaluation.