Optical remote sensing has become a useful tool for
monitoring the aquatic environment. However, the
quantitative interpretation of the satellite data in
coastal waters and lakes is still complicated;
consequently, in situ measurements retain their
value. These data elucidate the connections between
the types of lakes and environmental as well as
climatic conditions. The purpose of the present work
was to investigate the optical properties of North
European lakes and to specify the peculiarities of
turbid lakes. The main database was collected in
three turbid Estonian lakes (Peipsi, Võrtsjärv and
Harku), but also the data obtained from 22 southern
Swedish lakes, 14 Estonian lakes and 15 southern
Finnish lakes were used. Besides the analysis of the
water samples special attention was paid to the
attenuation of solar light in the water and the
parameters describing this process. The results
obtained in the present study definitely have an
importance in ecological and climatic investigations,
and they could be used for the further development of
remote sensing algorithms in turbid and humic water
bodies.
monitoring the aquatic environment. However, the
quantitative interpretation of the satellite data in
coastal waters and lakes is still complicated;
consequently, in situ measurements retain their
value. These data elucidate the connections between
the types of lakes and environmental as well as
climatic conditions. The purpose of the present work
was to investigate the optical properties of North
European lakes and to specify the peculiarities of
turbid lakes. The main database was collected in
three turbid Estonian lakes (Peipsi, Võrtsjärv and
Harku), but also the data obtained from 22 southern
Swedish lakes, 14 Estonian lakes and 15 southern
Finnish lakes were used. Besides the analysis of the
water samples special attention was paid to the
attenuation of solar light in the water and the
parameters describing this process. The results
obtained in the present study definitely have an
importance in ecological and climatic investigations,
and they could be used for the further development of
remote sensing algorithms in turbid and humic water
bodies.