Radiometric Field Research Articles

Multisensor Comparisons for Validation of MODIS Vegetation Indices

ABSTRACT Vegetation indices (VI) are one of the standard science products available from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Validation of MODIS-VI products was an important prerequisite to using these variables for global modeling. In this study, validation of the MODIS-VI products including single-day MODIS, level 2 (gridded) daily MODIS surface reflectance (MOD09), 16-day composited MODIS (MOD13) was performed utilizing multisensor data from MODIS, Thematic Mapper (TM), and field radiometer, for a rice-planting region in southern China. The validation approach involved scaling up independent fine-grained datasets, including ground measurement and high spatial resolution imagery, to the coarser MODIS spatial resolutions. The 16-day composited MODIS reflectance and VI matched well with the ground measurement reflectance and VI. The VI of TM and MODIS were lower than the ground VI. The results demonstrated the accuracy, reliability, and utility of the MODIS-VI products for the study region.

Spectral radiometric measurements of the temperature and radiation capacity of a rough sea surface

The results of radiometric remote simultaneous field measurements of the temperature and radiation capacity of the upper layer of the sea-surface temperature film 0.2 mm thick are presented. The measurements were conducted in the presence of wind waves and were characterized by an increased accuracy, which was achieved owing to the use of measurements of the intensity of radio radiation from the surface illuminated by radiation of a specified varying power. In our experiment, this illumination was provided by the radio radiation of the atmosphere, whose radiance temperature varies significantly, depending on the frequency at the slope of the absorption band of molecular oxygen (52.5–56 GHz). As a result, the radiation capacity and temperature of the skin layer were determined from the correlation dependence between the radiance temperatures of the surface and atmosphere measured by a radiometer-spectrometer in a number of channels separated in frequency. The radiance temperatures of the sea and atmosphere were measured at four frequencies of the 5-mm spectral range (53–55 GHz) on a vertical polarization. For absolute measurements, a calibration method was developed on the basis of a blackbody disk and two reflecting mirrors with the same solid angles. The measured values of the radiation capacity are variable and substantially smaller than the theoretical values determined by the models accepted for the permittivity of water and sea roughness. A possible cause of this can be the change of the permittivity of water in a thin surface layer of the temperature film (0.2 mm) due to the concentration of gases dissolved in water and surface-active substances within this layer.

Comparaison des capteurs ASTER et ETM+ pour la cartographie de la dégradation des sols à l'aide de l'indice LDI

This study investigates the utility of the land degradation index (LDI) approach to express land degradation in a small Mediterranean watershed with enhanced thematic mapper plus (ETM+) data. The LDI is based on the concept of the soil line, and was elaborated from advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (ASTER) sensor data and field spectra measurements. The implementation of the LDI index uses all the bands of the spectral domain in the visible, near infrared (NIR), and short wave infrared (SWIR). Field measurements were carried out in the Saboun experimental basin located in a marl soil region of the Moroccan western Rif for which soil, hydrological, and erosion databases were readily available. The present study provided the opportunity for studying and characterizing the state of soil degradation using the LDI. Our results show the interest of the use of the LDI with ASTER data to study or to map land degradation. It provides more accurate results (Kappa = 0,79) when compared with results obtained with ETM+ data (Kappa = 0,57). Globally, the results represent ground reality with sufficient accuracy to help decision makers in their soil conservation planning process.

A BASIC STUDY ON SOIL MOISTURE ALGORITHM USING GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS UNDER DRY CONDITION

Ground-based microwave radiometric field observations were conducted by using the Ground Based Passive Microwave Radiometer (GBMR) at frequencies of 6.9, 10.65 and 18.7 GHz to gain a better understanding of the physical mechanism of the radiative transfer process taken place in dry soil media. A metal plate was used as a bottom boundary and dry soil was put on it by increasing its depth one centimeter by one centimeter. The observed brightness temperature increased as the dry soil depth increased, while the increment of brightness temperature per one centimeter increase of soil depth was getting smaller. This behavior demonstrated the existence of volume scattering effects in the dry soil. Three models: surface emission model, Mie-scattering model and dense media radiative transfer model, were applied to the experiment results. The dense media radiative transfer model shows the best agreement with the observed data.

The use of remote sensing for estimating ET of irrigated wheat and cotton in Northwest Mexico

Components of a satellite-based system for estimating the crop water requirements of irrigated vegetation have been combined, applied, and tested against field data in the Yaqui Valley, northwest Mexico. Frequent satellite observations have the potential to provide snap shots of cloud variability at the high spatial and temporal resolutions that are needed for making simple, near real-time estimates of incoming solar radiation and, thus, daytime evaporation required for irrigation scheduling. Less frequent polar orbiting satellites offer the capacity of following the vegetation development at higher spatial resolution. The operational framework for obtaining cloud cover has been developed and applied using hourly sampled, 1 km resolution, GOES-10 data received in real-time. The high-resolution, cloud-screening algorithm has proved to be efficient and reliable and has been used to provide high-resolution (4 km) estimates of solar radiation. Relationships between vegetation indices (NDVI and SAVI) and crop coefficients (the ratio of measured to reference evapotranspiration) have been derived with four different models (Shuttleworth, Penman, Priestley–Taylor and Makkink), using ground-based surface reflectance measured over the crop. Continuous measurements of surface fluxes and other meteorological variables were made following almost the entire vegetative cycle of the plant using a station equipped with standard meteorological instruments and an eddy-correlation system. Actual evapotranspiration was computed as the product of the estimated crop coefficients, derived from field radiometer measurements, and reference evapotranspiration. In comparison with ground data, RMSE values are on the order of 1 mm per day. Finally the opportunity to use high-resolution satellite data to make near real-time estimates of crop evaporation is discussed.

Beam-filling effect correction with subpixel cloud fraction using a neural network

In this study, the effects of cloud inhomogeneity on microwave rain rate retrievals are investigated. A single-channel (85 GHz) empirically based algorithm using a neural network approach is presented. The objective is to correct the beam-filling error (BFE), that might occur because of the inherent variability within coarse microwave pixels, with subpixel information. To this aim, we used the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission passive microwave, thermal infrared and radar data. The integration of spatial information into the retrieval algorithm enables us to partially overcome the BFE. We use two parameters which characterize the horizontal cloud inhomogeneity within the microwave radiometer field of view, and we add them to simulated brightness temperatures as inputs of the neural network algorithm. The first one is the cloud fraction derived from infrared measurement, and the second corresponds to the fraction of the rainy area derived from radar measurements. The output rain rates were validated using the Precipitation Radar data. It was found that adding cloud fraction of microwave pixels, can lead to more accurate retrievals. Instantaneous precipitation estimates demonstrated correlations of /spl sim/0.6-0.7 and /spl sim/0.7-0.8 with radar-derived rain rates, for ocean and land retrievals respectively. In spite of the problem inherent in deriving the cloud (or rain) fraction, the initial validation results presented in this study are reasonably encouraging and show the advantage of utilizing the information from different sensors in order to optimize the retrieval of rainfall.

Response of alate aphids to green targets on coloured backgrounds

AbstractTo study the effect of background colour on aphid landing on green targets (water pan traps), two field experiments were set up in Hessen, Germany, in 2003. Traps were put onto coloured plastic sheets (13 colours, straw mulch, transparent foil, and uncovered soil, Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, green water pans were again put on coloured plastic sheets (red, white, green, and yellow), and the sheets were either sprayed with insect glue or not. Backgrounds and traps were spectrally characterised with a field radiometer (320–950 nm). Aphid catches were highest in the traps on the uncovered background, and lowest in the traps on white or silver backgrounds. For Brevicoryne brassicae, Myzus persicae (Homoptera: Aphididae, Macrosiphini) and five further aphid species, there was a significant negative correlation between UV‐reflectance (320–400 nm) and log(N + 1)‐transformed number of individuals. However, the effect of straw mulch (reduced aphid catches with straw compared to the uncovered background), could not be attributed to differences in UV‐reflectance, as UV was almost identical in soil and straw. High numbers of alate aphids were caught in traps with dark backgrounds (e.g. black, dark green), a result which was attributed to the high contrast between the background and target. The substantially higher aphid numbers from targets with bare soil than from targets with spectrally similar black backgrounds were thought to be caused by the structure of the background surface: for alate aphids, landing close to the target on smooth surfaces may induce probing, and the lack of appropriate substrate will result in take‐off, whereas soil will not induce probing, and aphids will continue to move towards the green targets.

Subpixel fractional cloud cover and inhomogeneity effects on microwave beam-filling error

Using synthetic geometrical clouds and radiative microwave model, we examine the possibility to correct the estimations of liquid water path (LWP) or rain rate with cloud cover measurement. This information may be gotten by co-localized measurements of microwave and infrared/visible measurements on new satellites (TRMM, ADEOS 2, …). In a first step, the effects of fractional cloud cover on microwave brightness temperatures (TB) are investigated in three typical cases of nonprecipitating and precipitating (stratiform and convective) clouds. The beam-filling error (BFE) on brightness temperatures may be analyzed with the known spatial variability using 1D or 3D radiative transfer model. Relationships between BFE and subpixel cloud fraction (CF) are discussed according to the cloud type. We tested several parameters that characterize the horizontal cloud inhomogeneity within a radiometer field of view. BFE was found very sensitive to cloud type and inhomogeneity and is maximum for raining cloud with open spatial structure. In order to account for the uncertainty introduced by the spatial distribution, dependence of BFE on textural-based parameters is also discussed using homogeneity, entropy and an indicator of CF horizontal gradient.

Radiation transport within oceanic (case 1) water

A spectral model of the inherent optical properties (IOP) of oceanic case 1 waters, as previously developed for studying the near‐surface bidirectional reflectance, provides the input parameters for the present computations of radiative transport (RT), now extended throughout the water column (three times the euphotic zone). All spectral apparent optical properties (AOP) are computed at each of the levels (30) for six chlorophyll values (from 0.03 to 10 mg m−3) and for six values of the zenith Sun angle (from 0° to 75°). The Raman emission is accounted for. From the irradiances and radiances values the various attenuation coefficients (K), the average cosines (), and the reflectance (R) are derived for all depths and layers. Their variations resulting from the Sun's position are also studied, which removes the static character of previous empirical models inasmuch as the diurnal changes of the parameters describing the in‐water light field can be predicted. The AOPs observed within the deepest levels are also compared to values independently derived from an asymptotic (iterative) solution of the RT. The rate of approach to the asymptotic regime is numerically analyzed; this rate is actually governed by τb, i.e., this fraction of τ (the optical thickness) that corresponds only to scattering. Practical applications of these systematic computations are examined, such as the change (with solar position) of the euphotic depth, the time‐ and wavelength‐dependent scalar irradiance that controls during the day the energy available for photosynthesis (or the heating rate), and the interpretation of radiometric field experiments involving upward and downward irradiance measurements. Some approximate expressions relating AOPs to IOPs are examined in the light of exact computations.

Temporal and spatial variability of satellite sea surface temperature and ocean colour in the Japan/East Sea

Temporal and spatial variability of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and ocean colour in the Japan/East Sea (JES) are examined during winter and spring using satellite data from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and Sea-viewing Wide Field of view Sensor (SeaWiFS). The timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom and the locations of the chlorophyll fronts are related to changes in the thermal fields and the locations of the temperature fronts. Daily images of SST and chlorophyll concentration show both differences and similarities of bio-optical and thermal front location, depending on region and season. Four sub-regions in the JES were defined and SST and chlorophyll values were extracted from weekly and monthly composite images to derive summary statistics. SST at the Subpolar Front increased about 7°C over a 1.5-month period from late April to early June in 1999. During this same period, elevated chlorophyll values near the Korean coast and in the southern basin decreased sharply as the phytoplankton bloom that first developed in the southern basin progressed to the front and northward. The SST/chlorophyll relationship is complex and seasonal. Near the Subpolar Front, SST and chlorophyll were positively related in April. In May, highest chlorophyll values corresponded to mixing regimes (such as areas of convergence and divergence at the edges of meanders) and, by June, SST and chlorophyll near the front were inversely related.

Observation of Water Vapor Greenhouse Absorption over the Gulf of Mexico Using Aircraft and Satellite Data

Through its interaction with radiation, water vapor provides an important link between the ocean and atmosphere. One way this occurs is through the greenhouse effect; observations of water vapor greenhouse absorption in the Gulf of Mexico during the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers— Florida Area Cirrus Experiment during July 2002 are reported here. The quantity dGa/dTs is the change in the amount of upwelling infrared flux absorbed by water vapor as the sea surface temperature increases, and therefore parameterizes the strength of the evaporative feedback between the ocean and atmosphere. Using hemispherical infrared broadband (IRBR) and narrow field of view (NFOV) radiometers aboard a NASA ER-2 aircraft, dGa/dTs was measured during flights on 9 and 26 July marked by large-scale convective and quiescent conditions, respectively. Using the NFOV over the wavelength range 4‐40 mm, dGa/dTs 5 13.4 6 1.0 Wm 22 K21 on 9 July, while on 26 July dGa/dTs 5 9.7 6 0.3 Wm 22 K21. The NFOV measurement of dGa/dTs in the 8‐12-mm wavelength range yielded values of ; 2.5 Wm 22 K21 for both days, indicating that most of the change in greenhouse absorption with increasing ocean temperature occurs in the rotational and vibrational spectral regions of water vapor. The IRBR measurements yielded higher values of dGa/dTs on both days, but were likely affected by cold clouds in the hemispherical radiometer field of view. These results support the link between greenhouse efficiency, mid- to upper-tropospheric water vapor concentration, and convection.

Collecting spectral data over cropland vegetation using machine-positioning versus hand-positioning of the sensor

The paper describes an all-terrain motorized platform for deploying sensors and compares data collected by means of that system with those collected by means of hand-held sensors. The results not only highlight the greater variability in spectra that can be expected when deploying field radiometers by hand but, more importantly, they quantify the difference. Researchers should be aware of the potential for diminishing the validity of findings based on reflectance spectra acquired by means of hand-held sensors.

Radiometric Field Measurements of Maize for estimating Soil and Plant Nitrogen

Conventional recommendations of nitrogen (N) fertiliser are based on composite soil samples. This may result in either underfertilisation or overfertilisation due to the neglected spatial variability. This paper shows a procedure to estimate in season plant and soil nitrogen by using remote sensing. The study was conducted on two experimental sites. The first experiment consisted of six non-replicated fertiliser plots. These data were used to develop the relationships between reflectance data and the plant and soil N. The second experiment had four plots with various N and water treatments on which the developed relationships were verified. Plant N, soil N and reflectance data from both nadir and 75° view angles were collected almost weekly. The nitrogen reflectance index was employed to estimate plant N. Regression analysis was used to develop relationships. Spatial variability was mapped in ArcView geographical information system. Regression analysis between reflectance data and plant N, and soil N and plant N showed good relationships at various stages. The nadir view tended to underestimate the plant and soil parameters, whereas the 75° view slightly overestimated. Geographic information system mapping of measured and estimated soil N showed an agreement except in locations where high N spots were encountered.

Exploring field vegetation reflectance as an indicator of soil contamination in river floodplains

This study investigated the relation between vegetation reflectance and elevated concentrations of the metals Ni, Cd, Cu, Zn and Pb in river floodplain soils. High-resolution vegetation reflectance spectra in the visible to near-infrared (400–1350 nm) were obtained using a field radiometer. The relations were evaluated using simple linear regression in combination with two spectral vegetation indices: the Difference Vegetation Index (DVI) and the Red-Edge Position (REP). In addition, a multivariate regression approach using partial least squares (PLS) regression was adopted. The three methods achieved comparable results. The best R 2 values for the relation between metals concentrations and vegetation reflectance were obtained for grass vegetation and ranged from 0.50 to 0.73. Herbaceous species displayed a larger deviation from the established relationships, resulting in lower R 2 values and larger cross-validation errors. The results corroborate the potential of hyperspectral remote sensing to contribute to the survey of elevated metal concentrations in floodplain soils under grassland using the spectral response of the vegetation as an indicator. Additional constraints will, however, have to be taken into account, as results are resolution- and location-dependent.

A comparison of methods to relate grass reflectance to soil metal contamination

Grass-dominated vegetation covers large areas of the Dutch river floodplains. Remotely sensed data on the conditions under which this vegetation grows may yield information about the degree of soil contamination. This paper explores the relationship between grassland canopy reflectance and zinc (Zn) contamination in the soil under semi-field conditions. A field radiometer was used to record reflectance spectra of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) in an experimental field with Zn concentrations in the soil ranging from 32 to 1800mgkg−1. Several spectral vegetation indices (VIs) and a multivariate approach using partial least squares (PLS) regression were investigated to evaluate their potential use in estimating Zn contamination levels. Compared to the best PLS model (RMSEP = 181.4 mg kg−1), the narrow band vegetation index MSAVI2mm performed better (RMSEP = 162.9 mg kg−1). Both MSAVI2mm and PLS gave a high user accuracy for the strongly contaminated soil class (100% and 91%, respectively), while the total accuracy was satisfactory (60% and 55%, respectively). Results from this feasibility study indicate the potential of using remote sensing techniques for the classification of contaminated areas in river floodplains. But as the results from this study may be both resolution- and location-dependent, research on field and image scale is now required to test the established relations and to assess their susceptibility to seasonal influences, species heterogeneity, and increased levels of spectral noise.

Determination of scaling characteristics of AVHRR data with wavelets: Application to SGP97

A wavelet multi-resolution analysis was conducted using vegetation and radiometric temperature data derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data from the Southern Great Plains 1997 (SGP97) Hydrology Experiment. The wavelet coefficients were used to investigate whether the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and radiometric temperature fields exhibit self-similar scaling behaviour. Using the first six moments of the wavelet coefficients through eight levels of dyadic decomposition, the NDVI data are shown to be statistically self-similar with a slope of approximately m 0.72 in each of the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal directions of the image over scales ranging from 2000 to 256 000 m. The radiometric temperature data are also shown to exhibit self-similarity with slopes ranging from m 0.9 in the diagonal direction to m 1.0 in the vertical direction over the same scales. These slopes indicate long range behaviour and may imply a methodology for statistically assimilating remotely sensed data into large-scale meso and global climate models.

Surface Emissivity and Hydrometeors Derived from Microwave Satellite Observations and Model Reanalyses

Satellite-observed Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) channel 1 (Ch1) brightness temperature, and General Circulation Model (GCM) reanalyses over the globe, as well as radiative transfer simulations, have been used to investigate microwave surface emissivity, and low-tropospheric hydrometeors, during the period from January 1981 to December 1993. The average model Ch1 temperature has been derived from three kinds of GCM reanalyses, based on the MSU weighting function. Since the Ch1 temperature constructed from GCM-reanalysis air temperature neglects effects from surface emissivity differences and hydrometeors, it is highest in the summer hemisphere. On the other hand, MSU temperature over land is much higher than it is over ocean, due to depressed surface emissivity over water. Over the high latitude ocean the MSU Ch1 temperature is enhanced because of ice/snow emissivity, while it is reduced over the high latitude land. The difference values of Ch1 temperature between reanalysis and MSU decrease, in the regions of the ITCZ, SPCZ and sea ice mainly because of increased MSU temperature. The values decrease by about 4-6 K in the ITCZ and SPCZ regions, due to hydrometeors. This difference is found to decrease by about 10-30 K in sea ice regions, due to change in surface emissivity. To explain these results, we have estimated the contribution of surface emissivity and hydrometeors to the MSU Ch1 temperature, utilizing radiative transfer theory. The increase of 4-6 K in the temperature over the ITCZ and SPCZ is estimated to result from hydrometeors that give a precipitation rate of 1-1.5 mm/day under the horizontal homogeneity of rain within the MSU radiometer field of view (fov, ∼110 km), and 7-11 mm/day under inhomogeneous rain distribution within the fov, consistent with TRMM observations. The increase of 10-30 K over the high latitude ocean, arises from ice emissivity of 0.6-0.9. Seasonal movements of sea ice boundary also have been discussed. This study could be valuable by providing an independent technique of computing surface emissivity and hydrometeors over the globe, and for long time periods from microwave measurements, such as MSU and AMSU.

Field based spectral reflectance studies to develop NDSI method for snow cover monitoring

Snow is highly reflective in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum making it possible to easily distinguish on a satellite image. However, cloud cover and mountain shadows pose a serious problem in the identification of snow in a mountainous region. Therefore, to identify snow in such an environment, a Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) has been applied. The NDSI is based on the high reflectance of snow in the visible region and its low reflectance in the SWIR region, whereas, reflectance of cloud remains high compared to snow in the SWIR region. Efforts have been made to carry out field observations on reflectance of various land features near Manali in Himachal Pradesh (HP) to develop NDSI values for identifying snow. Field data have been collected using three field radiometers, viz., Multi-band Ground Truth Radiometer (GTR) operating in the 12 spectral bands ranging from visible to near-infrared wavelengths, Near-Infrared Ground Truth Radiometer (NIGTR) operating in the SWIR range, and Ratio-Radiometer (RR) operating in two spectral bands, one in the visible range, and another band in the SWIR range. All these three field radiometers have been designed and developed indigenously at the Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad. NDSI values for all types of snow, such as, fresh, clear, patchy and wet, have been found to be in the range 0.9 to 0.96. In addition, the NDSI value for snow under mountain shadow is found to be more than 0.9. This suggests the use of NDSI method for snow cover monitoring under mountain shadow. NDSI values for other land features such as soil, vegetation, and rock were substantially different than snow. However, water bodies have NDSI values close to snow and they need to be masked during snow cover delineation using NIR band.

Angular distribution of radiation beneath forest canopies using a CCD-radiometer

An astronomical digital camera is equipped with a fish-eye lens and exchangeable filters to study the fine angular structure of radiation field in forests in the red and near infrared (NIR) spectral bands. A few examples of the angular distribution of downward radiances in conifer and broadleaf forests are given. The results of field measurements are compared with the spectral flux measurements by a field radiometer and with the calculations of radiance by a combined geometric-optical/radiative transfer (RT) model. The test measurements demonstrated that the hemispheric-view imaging radiometer is a good tool to validate canopy RT models.

Effects of Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus radiometric and geometric calibrations and corrections on landscape characterization

The Thematic Mapper (TM) instruments onboard Landsats 4 and 5 provide high-quality imagery appropriate for many different applications, including land cover mapping, landscape ecology, and change detection. Precise calibration was considered to be critical to the success of the Landsat 7 mission and, thus, issues of calibration were given high priority during the development of the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+). Data sets from the Landsat 5 TM are not routinely corrected for a number of radiometric and geometric artifacts, including memory effect, gain/bias, and interfocal plane misalignment. In the current investigation, the effects of correcting vs. not correcting these factors were investigated for several applications. Gain/bias calibrations were found to have a greater impact on most applications than did memory effect calibrations. Correcting interfocal plane offsets was found to have a moderate effect on applications. On June 2, 1999, Landsats 5 and 7 data were acquired nearly simultaneously over a study site in the Niobrara, NE area. Field radiometer data acquired at that site were used to facilitate crosscalibrations of Landsats 5 and 7 data. Current findings and results from previous investigations indicate that the internal calibrator of Landsat 5 TM tracked instrument gain well until 1988. After this, the internal calibrator diverged from the data derived from vicarious calibrations. Results from this study also indicate very good agreement between prelaunch measurements and vicarious calibration data for all Landsat 7 reflective bands except Band 4. Values are within about 3.5% of each other, except for Band 4, which differs by 10%. Coefficient of variation (CV) values derived from selected targets in the imagery were also analyzed. The Niobrara Landsat 7 imagery was found to have lower CV values than Landsat 5 data, implying that lower levels of noise characterize Landsat 7 data than current Landsat 5 data. It was also found that following radiometric normalization, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) imagery and classification products of Landsats 5 and 7 were very similar. This implies that data from the two sensors can be used to measure and monitor the same landscape phenomena and that Landsats 5 and 7 data can be used interchangeably with proper caution. In addition, it was found that difference imagery produced using Landsat 7 ETM+ data are of excellent quality.