<p>The internal breaking and waveform inversion of the depression internal solitary waves (ISWs) over slope-shelf have been observed in many laboratory experiments and field studies. However, it is difficult to match the data of ISWs of field measurement with remote sensing observation data, and the variation of optical remote sensing imaging characteristics during the propagation of ISWs on the continental slope is still unknown. In this paper, based on the observation results of 50 groups of ISWs in 32 remote sensing images during the climbing process, laboratory physical simulation is carried out to simulate the evolution of ISWs crossing the slope-shelf in the flume and obtain the optical images. The results show that when ISWs propagate on the slope-shelf, the waveform gradually becomes asymmetric, the front edge of ISWs becomes gentle, and the back edge of ISWs becomes steep, and the amplitude of ISWs will become smaller. The imaging effect of stripes of ISWs in optical images will become worse as ISWs propagate on the slope, and the relative gray value difference and the brightness-darkness distance will also become smaller, which is consistent with the variations of the optical imaging characteristics of ISWs extracted from the remote sensing image. In addition, the stratification ratios of water layers affect the optical imaging characteristics of ISWs with the same initial energy.</p>