Aquatic reflectance derived from Sentinel-2 Multispectral Imager data for inland waters in the conterminous United States

Limnology and Oceanography Letters
By: , and 

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Abstract

Satellite-based earth observation is a robust tool for tracking change in ecosystems. While terrestrially focused applications of remote sensing have empowered wide adoption for research and management, remote sensing of inland aquatic ecosystems remains comparably nascent. This divergence, in part, stems from the lack of standardized, accessible, and near real-time remotely sensed surface reflectance, atmospherically corrected for aquatic environments. To date, surface reflectance products at national scales and with minimal latency are typically designed exclusively for terrestrial environments. Rectifying this situation can be accomplished by applying aquatic-focused atmospheric correction algorithms independent of those used for terrestrial ecosystems. As a first step to filling this data gap, we present the first national scale, dynamically updated, analysis-ready, aquatic reflectance dataset for inland water derived from Sentinel-2 for the conterminous United States.

Suggested Citation

Ducar, S.D., King, T.V., Meyer, M.F., Hundt, S.A., Ball, G.P., Hafen, K.C., Avouris, D., Wakefield, B., Stengel, V.G., and Vanhellemont, Q., 2026, Aquatic reflectance derived from Sentinel-2 Multispectral Imager data for inland waters in the conterminous United States: Limnology and Oceanography Letters, v. 11, no. 2, e70112, 17 p., https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.70112.

Study Area

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Aquatic reflectance derived from Sentinel-2 Multispectral Imager data for inland waters in the conterminous United States
Series title Limnology and Oceanography Letters
DOI 10.1002/lol2.70112
Volume 11
Issue 2
Publication Date February 22, 2026
Year Published 2026
Language English
Publisher Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography
Contributing office(s) Idaho Water Science Center
Description e70112, 17 p.
Country United States
Other Geospatial conterminous United States
Additional publication details