Initial coastal zone color scanner imagery

The characteristics of the Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner are presented and the atmospheric correction and bio-optical algorithms are reviewed. Comparison of imagery before and after atmospheric correction shows that water features such as color fronts and small scale eddies can be retrieved even through a hazy and horizontally inhomogeneous atmosphere. Imagery is also presented to show that features revealed in color are sometimes completely absent from simultaneous thermal imagery implying that color and thermal imagery can provide complementary rather than redundant information.