Journal of Coastal Research: An International Forum for the Littoral Sciences

Abstract

McCullough, R.M.; Parrish, C.E.; and Imahori, G., 2026. Investigation of SuperDove for satellite-derived bathymetry and comparison with Sentinel-2. Journal of Coastal Research, 42(4), 720-734. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) uses multiple spectral bands of satellite imagery to retrieve depth and is increasingly used for purposes ranging from hydrographic survey planning to benthic habitat mapping and poststorm change detection. Turbidity and clouds are major hindrances to successful SDB. The recent launch of constellations of commercial small satellites (SmallSats) may help overcome these challenges, offering much higher revisit rates than conventional Earth observation satellites. In theory, the greater number of overpasses should increase the probability of acquiring at least one scene with suitable water clarity and lack of clouds needed for successful SDB retrievals. However, to determine whether and to what extent SmallSats do, in fact, facilitate SDB, comparing SDB from SmallSats with SDB from conventional Earth observation satellites should be considered in terms of rates of acquisition of usable imagery, achievable accuracies, and maximum retrieval depths. This study evaluated SDB from Planet Labs's SuperDove imagery, as compared with Sentinel-2 imagery, and considered each of these three criteria for 14 test sites encompassing thousands of images. Results showed that the SmallSat constellation increased usable imagery by a factor of 3.5 while providing similar accuracy (no statistically significant difference in the means of the squared errors) and higher resolution across the 14 study sites. Maximum depth analysis was less conclusive but suggested that Sentinel-2 may provide greater maximum depths depending on the bands used. Qualitative assessment indicated that SuperDove imagery more frequently exhibits sensor quality issues, such as band misregistration and blurriness, and that the smaller footprint sometimes necessitates a greater number of scenes to cover a site. Results of this study are currently being used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to inform incorporation of SuperDove imagery in operational SDB software.