water Review Research Trends in the Use of Remote Sensing for Inland Water Quality Science: Moving Towards Multidisciplinary Applications Simon N. Topp 1,* , Tamlin M. Pavelsky 1, Daniel Jensen 2,3 , Marc Simard 2 and Matthew R. V. Ross 4 1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 104 South Rd, Mitchell Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA;
[email protected] 2 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109, USA;
[email protected] (D.J.);
[email protected] (M.S.) 3 Department of Geography, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA 4 Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +1-303-917-2694 Received: 2 October 2019; Accepted: 31 December 2019; Published: 7 January 2020 Abstract: Remote sensing approaches to measuring inland water quality date back nearly 50 years to the beginning of the satellite era. Over this time span, hundreds of peer-reviewed publications have demonstrated promising remote sensing models to estimate biological, chemical, and physical properties of inland waterbodies. Until recently, most of these publications focused largely on algorithm development as opposed to implementation of those algorithms to address specific science questions. This slow evolution contrasts with terrestrial and oceanic remote sensing, where methods development in the 1970s led to publications focused on understanding spatially expansive, complex processes as early as the mid-1980s. This review explores the progression of inland water quality remote sensing from methodological development to scientific applications.