This study is based essentially on the pattern recognition of concentrations of suspended solids from LANDSAT-2 imagery recorded on CCT's and processed through the IMAGE-100 system. The June 24, 1976 passage over Guanabara Bay and outlying waters was classified using maximum-likelihood and cluster synthesis routines. The thematic map generated by the IMAGE-100 showed high consistency between the distribution of suspended solids and the bi-dimensional models of surface circulation, especially during high and low tides. Biological parameters obtained from the 1977 Environmental Control Program, State of Rio de Janeiro, correlated with orbital data corresponding to the spatial distribution of summer coliform counts. The same could have been deduced for the presence of inorganic dissolved phosphatesin the waters of Guanabara Bay given chemical data.