Influence and modelling of view angles and microrelief on surface temperature measurements of bare agricultural soils

Abstract

The exploitation of remote sensing instruments with large fields of view necessarily implies the analysis of instruments acquired over a wide variety of viewing geometries. The purpose of this study is to underline the effects of view angles and microrelief on the directional surface temperature measurements of cultivated bare soils. A campaign of measurements was carried out at Poznan (Poland) in April 1995. The directional temperatures were measured on a furrowed sandy soil. The measurements were acquired at ground level with a radiothermometer in the 8–14 μm band. The radiothermometer was fixed on a special goniometric support 2.1 m above the soil surface and was directed at the soil with view zenith angles varying from −60° to +60° by steps of 10°. The data were collected for solar zenith angles ranging from 40.2° to 62.3°. In the experiment, for a given sun position, the difference between oblique and nadir measurements could reach 6°C. A model aimed at explaining the variations of the surface temperature measurements of furrowed soil in relation to its viewing conditions is presented. This model requires the precise soil microrelief geometry configuration, the illumination and viewing conditions of the surface and the radiative temperatures of the shaded and sunlit soil facets. The results show a good correlation between the predicted and the measured data. This type of modelling can be used to correct radiative temperature measurements of soils from view angles and soil microrelief geometry effects.