Bathymetric mapping around islands in the South China Sea with Quickbird and Worldview-2 Imagery

Abstract

Abstract: Satellite remotely-sensed data has been applied to estimate water depth in the clear and shallow water area. In this study, we use Quickbird and WorldView-2 imagery for bathymetric mapping around Itu Aba Island, located in the center of South China Sea (SCS). A linear model is applied to estimate water depths. The result show that the error of water depth estimated from Quickbird imagery is about 9.7% around Pratas Island. The model is also applied to map the water depth around Itu Aba Island with Quickbird and WorldView-2 images. A more changeable depth is found from WorldView-2 image than that from Quickbird. It implies that the coastal blue band in WorldView-2 imagery may retrieve more information.