Sensitivity of an atmospheric correction algorithm for non-Lambertian vegetation surfaces to atmospheric parameters

Abstract

An atmospheric correction algorithm has been proposed by S.A.W. Gerstl and C. Simmer (1986) that removes atmospheric perturbations from off-nadir radiances measured at the top of the atmosphere in the visible and near-infrared wavelength regions. The correction formalism requires as minimum information the total optical depth of the atmosphere and the surface albedo. The sensitivity of the model to assumptions about the aerosol scattering phase function, the single scattering albedo, and the vertical profile of the optical depth are tested. The authors find that the forward scattering asymmetry must be known most accurately to perform a reliable atmospheric correction for aerosol-laden atmospheres when high-resolution and off-nadir imagery is considered and the surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function is to be retrieved. >