Based on the field and laboratory bio-optical datasets from the May and August cruises in the Pearl River Estuary in 2014,the variability of bio-optical parameters was analyzed to examine the dominant optically active components in a highly turbid water.Using the simulated and field MODIS data,the retrieval algorithms for estimation of the absorption coefficients at a specific wavelength of water components were developed and classified following the IOCCG reports,to assess the spatial and temporal variability of dominant optically active components in the Pearl River Estuary.The results demonstrated that ad,ag or both of them (adg) dominated the optical properties of water in this estuary,with adg accounting for an average of 76.9% in 2011,followed by ag and ad.Furthermore,ad (442) and adg (442) were both well positively correlated with C1ss,which were shown to provide comparable information on CDOM and detritus present.