Hyperspectral data have been collected by the Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) and multispectral data by the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) instrument for the purpose of mapping lake water quality. Field campaigns have been performed on Lake Erken in Sweden during the summer of 1997. Water samples have been collected and analysed in laboratory. Continuously measured variables from a boat have added a spatial dimension to the ground truth dataset. The data have been used to construct algorithms, based on remotely sensed data, for the retrieval of water quality parameters. The correlation between the continuous data and the collected CASI data has been investigated. Algorithms using both the point sampling results and the continuous data have been developed. Maps based on data from each instrument, showing the distribution of chlorophyll, are presented. Problems of having few water sampling stations, and the potential of using sub-water optics models are addressed as well. Tests were performed on MERIS bands and found useful for mapping chlorophyll and turbidity, and algorithms have been suggested for future use with MERIS.