Spectrooptical and water quality data collected from a 1979 coordinated in situ and airborne study of western Lake Ontario are used to devise a five-component model from which subsurface chlorophyll a and suspended solids concentrations may be determined from submersible optical sensors capable of measuring spectral irradiance reflectance just beneath the free-surface layer. A water-air interface model, which incorporates the effects of surface reflection, is also presented in an attempt to extend such water quality estimations to low altitude remote sensors. Special emphasis is given to the spectral wavelength bands of the Coastal Zone Color Scanner aboard Nimbus-7.