Prototyping algorithm for retrieving vegetation parameters from the MSG and EPS EUMETSAT platforms

Abstract

EUMETSAT has developed a network of Satellite Application Facilities (SAF) for the future Application Ground Segments for the new generation Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) and European Polar System (EPS) platforms. Our main concern in LSA SAF is to develop an operational algorithm for retrieving vegetation parameters. In particular, fractional vegetation cover (FVC) and leaf area index (LAI), which are key parameters in the description of both land-surface processes and land-atmosphere interactions. The LSA SAF vegetation products will be provided over the full MSG disk at 3-km spatial resolution with a temporal resolution of 10-days. The use of BRDF models assures that these products will be corrected of the surface anisotropy effects. The algorithm is based on the complementary use of variable and multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (DISMA), according with the available directional sampling. Land cover map, soil type databases and the clumping index are auxiliary information in the prototype. The prototyping algorithm has been tested using both airborne POLDER data over croplands, and the POLDEr on ADEOS BRDF database. A first version of the prototype for the MSG developed on synthetic MSG data is already implemented in the LSA SAF system. In this paper, the prototyping algorithm designed to retrieve the LSA SAF vegetation products and its validation on the above mentioned data sets are presented.