A new parameterization of canopy spectral response to incident solar radiation: case study with hyperspectral data from pine dominant forest

A small set of independent variables generally seems to suffice when attempting to describe the spectral response of a vegetation canopy to incident solar radiation. This set includes the soil reflectance, the single-scattering albedo, canopy transmittance, reflectance and interception, the portion of uncollided radiation in the total incident radiation, and portions of collided canopy transmittance and interception. All of these are measurable; they satisfy a simple system of equations and constitute a set that fully describes the law of energy conservation in vegetation canopies at any wavelength in the visible and near-infrared part of the solar spectrum. Further, the system of equations specifies the relationship between the optical properties at the leaf and the canopy scales. Thus, the information content of hyperspectral data can be fully exploited if these variables can be retrieved, for they can be more directly related to some of the physical properties of the canopy (e.g. leaf area index). This paper demonstrates this concept through retrievals of single-scattering albedo, canopy absorptance, portions of uncollided and collided canopy transmittance, and interception from hyperspectral data collected during a field campaign in Ruokolahti, Finland, June 14-21, 2000. The retrieved variables are then used to estimate canopy leaf area index, vegetation ground cover, and also the ratio of direct to total incident solar radiation at blue, green, red, and near-infrared spectral intervals.     

Canopy spectral invariants for remote sensing and model applications

The concept of canopy spectral invariants expresses the observation that simple algebraic combinations of leaf and canopy spectral transmittance and reflectance become wavelength independent and determine a small set of canopy structure specific variables. This set includes the canopy interceptance, the recollision and the escape probabilities. These variables specify an accurate relationship between the spectral response of a vegetation canopy to the incident solar radiation at the leaf and the canopy scale and allow for a simple and accurate parameterization for the partitioning of the incoming radiation into canopy transmission, reflection and absorption at any wavelength in the solar spectrum. This paper presents a solid theoretical basis for spectral invariant relationships reported in literature with an emphasis on their accuracies in describing the shortwave radiative properties of the three-dimensional vegetation canopies. The analysis of data on leaf and canopy spectral transmittance and reflectance collected during the international field campaign in Flakaliden, Sweden, June 25-July 4, 2002 supports the proposed theory. The results presented here are essential to both modeling and remote sensing communities because they allow the separation of the structural and radiometric components of the measured/modeled signal. The canopy spectral invariants offer a simple and accurate parameterization for the shortwave radiation block in many global models of climate, hydrology, biogeochemistry, and ecology. In remote sensing applications, the information content of hyperspectral data can be fully exploited if the wavelength-independent variables can be retrieved, for they can be more directly related to structural characteristics of the three-dimensional vegetation canopy.     

Modelling surface energy fluxes over maize using a two-source patch model and radiometric soil and canopy temperature observations

Models estimating surface energy fluxes over partial canopy cover with thermal remote sensing must account for significant differences between the radiometric temperatures and turbulent exchange rates associated with the soil and canopy components of the thermal pixel scene. Recent progress in separating soil and canopy temperatures from dual angle composite radiometric temperature measurements has encouraged the development of two-source (soil and canopy) approaches to estimating surface energy fluxes given observations of component soil and canopy temperatures. A Simplified Two-Source Energy Balance (STSEB) model has been developed using a “patch” treatment of the surface flux sources, which does not allow interaction between the soil and vegetation canopy components. A simple algorithm to predict the net radiation partitioning between the soil and vegetation is introduced as part of the STSEB patch modelling scheme. The feasibility of the STSEB approach under a full range in fractional vegetation cover conditions is explored using data collected over a maize (corn) crop in Beltsville Maryland, USA during the 2004 summer growing season. Measurements of soil and canopy component temperatures as well as the effective composite temperature were collected over the course of the growing season from crop emergence to cob development. Comparison with tower flux measurements yielded root-mean-square-difference values between 15 and 50 W m^− 2 for the retrieval of the net radiation, soil, sensible and latent heat fluxes. A detailed sensitivity analysis of the STSEB approach to typical uncertainties in the required inputs was also conducted indicating greatest model sensitivity to soil and canopy temperature uncertainties with relative errors reaching ∼ 30% in latent heat flux estimates. With algorithms proposed to infer component temperatures from bi-angular satellite observations, the STSEB model has the capability of being applied operationally.     

The influence of meteorological conditions and topographic parameters on the beech forest microclimate of Simbruini Mountains,central Italy

The relation between vegetation surface temperature and remotely sensed spectral vegetation indices has been examined by a number of authors. The observed linear decrease in surface temperature with the increase in vegetation cover density has generally been explained in terms of the increase in latent heat flux associated with greater amounts of transpirationally active vegetation. However, these investigations have initially concentrated in spatially uniform crop or pasture targets on level terrain, excluding more complex forested environments with variable Sun-sensor-surface geometry. In irregular terrains, the vegetation surface temperature may be strongly influenced by topographic parameters, such as altitude and insulation angle, so that the actual forest microclimate is often difficult to evaluate. Moreover, in the thermal regime, the emission of radiative flux within the canopy element is very tightly coupled to the environment through driving mechanisms such as meteorological conditions. In fact, the allocation of absorbed solar radiation into sensible heat flux and latent heat flux is dominated by the availability of water at the Earth's surface and thus by precipitations and air temperature conditions. In this paper, which uses remotely sensed inputs of surface temperature and vegetation fractional cover, the effects of topographic parameters and vegetation cover density on surface temperature of vegetation are investigated based on Landsat 5 satellite images obtained in the daytime of two clear summer days with different antecedent meteorological conditions. For both scenes analysed, results indicate that altitude as well as the orientation of the surface relative to the Sun were the most important factors controlling surface temperatures of beech forests of Simbruini Mountains, in central Italy.     

Global mapping of foliage clumping index using multi-angular satellite data

Global mapping of the vegetation clumping index is attempted for the first time using multi-angular POLDER 1 data based on a methodology that has been demonstrated to be applicable to Canada's landmass. The clumping index quantified the level of foliage grouping within distinct canopy structures, such as tree crowns, shrubs, and row crops, relative to a random distribution. Vegetation foliage clumping significantly alters its radiation environment and therefore affects vegetation growth as well as water and carbon cycles. The clumping index is useful in ecological and meteorological models because it provides new structural information in addition to the effective LAI retrieved from mono-angle remote sensing and allows accurate separation of sunlit and shaded leaves in the canopy. The relationship between an angular index (normalized difference between hotspot and darkspot) and the clumping index is explored using a geometrical optical model named “4-Scale”. A simplified version of the mechanistic hotspot model used in 4-Scale is developed to derive the hotspot reflectance from multi-angle measurements for mapping purposes. An accurate clumping map for areas with significant tree (shrub) covers has been achieved, although further research is required to reduce topographic effects.     

Effects of vegetation canopy structure on remotely sensed canopy temperatures

Remote sensing of vegetation temperatures is a promising technique for inferring plant water stress and yield on a large spatial scale. The effects of vegetation canopy structure on thermal infrared sensor response need to be understood before vegetation surface temperatures of canopies with low percentages of ground cover can be accurately inferred. The response of a sensor is a function of vegetation geometric structure, the vertical surface temperature distribution of the canopy components, and sensor view angle. Large deviations between the nadir sensor effective radiant temperature (ERT) and vegetation ERT for a soybean canopy were observed throughout the growing season. The nadir sensor ERT of a soybean canopy with 35% ground cover deviated from the vegetation ERT by as much as 11°C during the mid-day. These deviations were quantitatively explained as a function of canopy structure and soil temperature. Remote sensing techniques which uniquely determine the vegetation canopy temperature(s) from the sensor response need to be studied.     

Radiative transfer modeling within a heterogeneous canopy for estimation of forest fire fuel properties

Imaging spectrometer data were acquired over conifer stands to retrieve spatially distributed information on canopy structure and foliage water content, which may be used to assess fire risk and to manage the impact of forest fires. The study relied on a comprehensive field campaign using stratified systematic unaligned sampling ranging from full spectroradiometric characterization of the canopy to conventional measurements of biochemical and biophysical variables. Airborne imaging spectrometer data (DAIS7915 and ROSIS) were acquired parallel to the ground measurements, describing the canopy reflectance of the observed forest. Coniferous canopies are highly heterogeneous and thus the transfer of incident radiation within the canopy is dominated by its structure. We demonstrated the viability of radiative transfer representation and compared the performance of two hybrid canopy reflectance models, GeoSAIL and FLIGHT, within this heterogeneous medium. Despite the different nature and canopy representation of these models, they yielded similar results. Subsequently, the inversion of a hyperspectral GeoSAIL version demonstrated the feasibility of estimating structure and foliage water content of a coniferous canopy based on radiative transfer modeling. Estimates of the canopy variables showed reasonably accurate results and were validated through ground measurements.     

Atmospheric optical depth effects on angular anisotropy of plant canopy reflectance

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to determine whether changes in atmospheric aerosol optical depth would effect changes in bi-directional reflectance distributions of vegetation canopies. Measurements were made of the directionally reflected radiance distributions of two pasture grass canopies (same species, different growth forms) and one soya bean plant canopy under different sky irradiance distributions, which resulted from a variation in aerosol optical depth. The reflected radiance data were analysed in the solar principal plane in two narrow spectral bands, one visible (662 nm) and one infrared (826 nm). The observed changes in reflectance for both wavelengths from irradiance distribution variation is interpreted to be due largely to changes in the percentage of shadowed area viewed by the sensor for the incomplete canopies (pasture grass). For the complete coverage vegetation canopy (soya bean) studied, the effects of specular reflection and the increased diffuse irradiance penetration into the canopy are concluded to be primary physical mechanisms responsible for reflectance changes. Observed reflectivities were found to be lower on a hazy day (higher optical depth with a greater diffuse fraction) than on a clear day, with solar zenith angles at about 58^° on both days, for full-coverage soya bean canopies. The reduced reflectance most likely results from a diminished specular reflection and a greater diffuse radiation penetration into the canopy, which effects an increased energy absorption at large solar zenith angles. The opposite was true for fractional coverage grass canopies at solar zenith angles of about 56^° since the shadowing was less on the hazy day and, therefore, the soil/litter background was more fully illuminated. In the near-infrared waveband the changes in reflectance are much less than in the visible and, therefore, normalized difference vegetation index values differ substantially under clear and hazy sky conditions for the same vegetation canopy conditions. Thus, the influence of atmospheric optical depth must be considered for accurate remote sensing and in situ data interpretation.     

基于能量平衡原理的FPAR遥感反演研究

光合有效辐射吸收系数(FPAR)是描述植被结构以及冠层-大气物质与能量交换过程的基本生理变量。从能量守恒的原理出发,结合非线性混合像元模型,分析了太阳入射能量中的植被冠层反射、土壤吸收分量的光谱反演方法,建立了简化的FPAR遥感反演模型(FPEB)。分别应用2011和2013年西藏自冶区那曲实验数据\,2011年西藏自冶区当雄实验数据和2013年内蒙古自冶区海拉尔的实验数据,对建立的FPAR遥感反演模型进行了验证,并将FPEB模型反演结果与传统的植被指数统计模型反演结果进行了对比分析,结果表明:FPEB模型的FPAR反演精度优于NDVI统计模型,且与其他基于能量平衡原理提出的反演FPAR的模型相比具有输入参数少,模型简单的优势,在空间区域和时间上具有很好的普适性。     

基于三维真实场景的落叶松林参数敏感性分析

森林冠层结构对太阳辐射能量有重要的影响,而双向反射率因子（BRF）在植被冠层反射研究中对冠层的生物物理特性起重要作用。本文在针叶树简化实验和落叶松模拟的基础上,分析了 BRF对落叶松及其环境参数的敏感性：叶面积指数(LAI)、太阳位置、地面背景和天空光比例。研究结果表明冠层的空间结构分布、地面背景的类型对BRF有很大的影响。     

Remote sensing of leaf water content in the near infrared

A stochastic leaf radiation model was used to predict leaf spectral reflectance as a function of leaf water content for a dicot leaf. Simulated spectral reflectances were analyzed to quantify reflectance differences between different equivalent water thicknesses. Simulated results coupled with consideration of atmoshperic transmission properties and the incident solar spectral irradiance at the earth's surface resulted in the conclusion that the 1.55–1.75 μm region was the best-suited wavelength interval for satellite—platform remote sensing of plant canopy water status in the 0.7–2.5 μm region of the spectrum.     

The effects of solar radiation and black body re-radiation on thermal comfort

When the sun shines on people in enclosed spaces, such as in buildings or vehicles, it directly affects thermal comfort. There is also an indirect effect as surrounding surfaces are heated exposing a person to re-radiation. This laboratory study investigated the effects of long wave re-radiation on thermal comfort, individually and when combined with direct solar radiation. Nine male participants (26.0 +/- 4.7 years) took part in three experimental sessions where they were exposed to radiation from a hot black panel heated to 100 degrees C; direct simulated solar radiation of 600 Wm(-2) and the combined simulated solar radiation and black panel radiation. Exposures were for 30 min, during which subjective responses and mean skin temperatures were recorded. The results showed that, at a surface temperature of 100 degrees C (close to maximum in practice), radiation from the flat black panel provided thermal discomfort but that this was relatively small when compared with the effects of direct solar radiation. It was concluded that re-radiation, from a dashboard in a vehicle, for example, will not have a major direct influence on thermal comfort and that existing models of thermal comfort do not require a specific modification. These results showed that, for the conditions investigated, the addition of re-radiation from internal components has an effect on thermal sensation when combined with direct solar radiation. However, it is not considered that it will be a major factor in a real world situation. This is because, in practice, dashboards are unlikely to maintain very high surface temperatures in vehicles without an unacceptably high air temperature. This study quantifies the contribution of short- and long-wave radiation to thermal comfort. The results will aid vehicle designers to have a better understanding of the complex radiation environment. These include direct radiation from the sun as well as re-radiation from the dashboard and other internal surfaces.     

Effects of corn stalk orientation and water content on passive microwave sensing of soil moisture

A field experiment was conducted utilizing artificial arrangements of plant components during the summer of 1982 to examine the effects of corn canopy structure and plant water content on microwave emission. Truck-mounted microwave radiometers at C (5 GHz) and L (1.4 GHz) band sensed vertically and horizontally polarized radiation concurrent with ground observations of soil moisture and vegetation parameters. Results indicate that the orientation of cut stalks and the distribution of their dielectric properties through the canopy layer can influence the microwave emission measured from a vegetation/soil scene. The magnitude of this effect varies with polarization and frequency and with the amount of water in the plant, disappearing at low levels of vegetation water content. Although many of the canopy structures and orientations studied in this experiment are somewhat artificial, they serve to improve our understanding of microwave energy interactions within a vegetation canopy and to aid in the development of appropriate physically based vegetation models.     

Analytical parameterization of canopy directional emissivity and directional radiance in the thermal infrared. Application on the retrieval of soil and foliage temperatures using two directional measurements

This work is aimed at deriving canopy component (soil and foliage) temperatures from remote sensing measurements. A simulation study above sparse, partial and dense vegetation canopies has been performed to improve the knowledge of the behaviour of the composite radiative temperature and emissivity. Canopy structural parameters have been introduced in the analytical parameterization of the directional canopy emissivity and directional canopy radiance:namely, the leaf area index (LAI), directional gap fraction and angular cavity effect coefficient. The parameterization has been physically defined allowing its extension to a wide range of Leaf Inclination Distribution Functions (LIDF). When single values are used as leaves and soil temperatures, they prove to be retrieved with insignificant errors from two directional measurements of the canopy radiance (namely at 0 and 55 from nadir), provided that the canopy structure parameters are known. A sensitivity study to the different parameters shows the great importance of the accuracy on LAI estimation (an accuracy of 10 per cent is required to retrieve the leaves temperature with an accuracy better than 0.5 degK, the same requirement being 5 per cent for the retrieval of soil temperature). The radiometric noise is important too, but its effects may be limited by using very different angles for the measurements: for 0 and 55, the effect of a Gaussian noise (NEDeltaT 0.05deg K) is lower than 0.5degK on the retrieved soil and foliage temperatures). Uncertainties on the leaf and soil emissivities (Delta epsilon 0.01) cause little errors in the retrieval (lower than 0.5degK). If the inclination dependence of the leaves temperature is considered, a 1 degK error is observed in the retrieved soil and foliage temperatures. This error is due to the fact that the effective foliage temperature varies with the view angle (a few 10 -1 deg K at 55 ), which implies errors in the inversion scheme. This effect may be corrected for by using an angular corrective term delta depending only on the off-nadir angle used.     

Evaluating land surface moisture conditions from the remotely sensed temperature/vegetation index measurements: An exploration with the simplified simple biosphere model

Land soil moisture conditions play a critical role in evaluating terrestrial environmental conditions related to ecological, hydrological, and atmospheric processes. Extensive efforts to exploit the potential of remotely sensed observations to help quantify this complex variable are still underway. Among the various methods, several investigators have explored a combination of surface temperatures and spectral vegetation index (SVI) measurements, the TVX method, as a means to account for the variable influence of vegetation cover in soil moisture assessment. Although considerable empirical evidence has been presented exploring the potential of TVX methods to assess regional moisture conditions, less attention has been given to assessing the underlying biophysics of the observed TVX patterns. In this study, the Simplified Simple Biosphere (SSiB) model is exploited to examine the factors that lead to the observed TVX relation. For a range of typical, midlatitude, growing season conditions, the SSiB model produces the expected TVX relationship, surface temperature decreases with increasing SVI values. The most critical factors that cause the TVX relation to vary include near-surface soil moisture (2 cm), incident radiation (IR), and, to a lesser degree, wind speed. Whereas many empirical studies have suggested that the slope of the TVX relation may provide an important diagnostic of soil moisture conditions, in this analysis, the impact of plant stomatal function is shown to confuse this interpretation of the TVX slope. However, other aspects of the TVX metrics, specifically bare soil temperature and canopy temperature, do provide diagnostic near-surface soil moisture information. Growing season variations in TVX metrics were examined for the conditions recorded at the Hydrological and Atmospheric Pilot Experiment—Modelisation du Bilan Hydrique (HAPEX-Mobilhy) study site. The results from this analysis indicate that soil and canopy temperatures vary as a function of soil moisture conditions and, to a lesser degree, as a result of varying solar insolation and wind speed. The results also show that the TVX metrics are able to provide daily soil moisture variation up to 2 cm of soil depth and seasonal trend up to 10 cm. Using the satellite-derived surface temperatures and a SSiB-derived retrieval equation, the retrieved soil moistures at the HAPEX-Mobilhy site generally closely approximate the conditions recorded on the ground.     

Radiometric signature and spatial variability of the vegetation coverage of a boreal forest

A judicious combination of spectral and spatial surface information can improve the understanding of the vegetation optical variability and typological differentiation. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential of airborne spectral radiation and digital imagery data for vegetation canopy classification and the impact of canopy texture on the vegetation–solar radiation interaction. To conduct the study, two multispectral radiometers with wavelengths ranging from 350 to 1050 nm and a fine pixel digital camera are used. One of the radiometers is positioned close to the digital camera, and, both instruments are carried by a radio‐controlled helicopter flying above the canopy of a boreal forest of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Analyses of the canopy reflectance signature show a clear species differentiation in the vegetation of the area and give an evaluation of the canopy radiation capacities. The bamboo grass species have the highest reflectance and the needle‐leaf species the lowest. To understand the physical factors associated with the reflectance‐species typological relationship, textural features are extracted from digital images, by using colour discrimination techniques. The features estimated are the brightness intensity of the canopy, the amounts of gaps and shadows, the degree of heterogeneity of light scattering, and the green vegetation fraction. Then, the relationship between these individual properties and reflectance is examined. The results obtained show that reflectance decreases with increasing amount of gaps and shadows and, increases with the brightness intensity and more importantly with light scattering heterogeneity of the canopy. This heterogeneity effect, derived from the vegetation luminance distribution is examined through three methods. The most elaborate among these methods is the semivariogram analysis. Results of this analysis show that the range of the semivarioragram reflects well enough the average size of the plants (short range for the bamboo grass and large range for the needle‐leaf species). The needle‐leaf species have the highest variability, i.e. are the most heterogeneous light scatterers, while the bamboo grass species are the least variable. The scale of variability of the distribution of luminance differs according to the species: it is dominated by macrovariability in the needle‐leaf, and microvariability in the bamboo grass and the broadleaf. The needle‐leaf species' high spatial heterogeneity of light scattering would reduce the measured canopy bi‐directional reflected radiation and enhance the transmission of this radiation towards lower vegetation levels through a multiscattering radiation process.     

Effect of vegetation and waterbody on the garden city concept: An evaluation study using a newly developed city,Putrajaya, Malaysia

The garden city concept was adopted in the development of a new tropical city, Putrajaya, aimed at mitigating the effect of urban thermal modification associated with urbanisation, such as urban heat island (UHI). WRF/Noah/UCM coupled system was used to estimate the urban environment over the area and the individual thermal contributions of natural land use classes (vegetation and waterbody). A control experiment including all land use types describing the urban conditions of Putrajaya city agreed well with the observations in the region. A series of experiments was then conducted, in which vegetation and waterbody were successively replaced with an urban land use type, providing the basis for an assessment of their respective effect on urban thermal mitigation. Surface energy components, 2-m air temperature (T2m) and mixing ratio (Q2m), relative humidity (RH) and UHI intensity (UHII) showed variations for each land use class. Overall, an increase in urban surfaces caused a corresponding increase in the thermal conditions of the city. Conversely, waterbody and vegetation induced a daily reduction of 0.14 and 0.39 °C of T2m, respectively. RH, UHI and T2m also showed variations with urban fractions. A thermal reduction effect of vegetation is visible during mornings and nights, while that of water is minimally shown during daytime. However, during nights and mornings, canopy layer thermal conditions above waterbody remain relatively high, with a rather undesirable effect on the surrounding microclimate, because of its high heat capacity and thermal inertia.     

Lidar remote sensing for modeling gross primary production of deciduous forests

The influence of foliage vertical distribution on vegetation gross primary production (GPP) is investigated in this study. A new photosynthesis model has been created that combines the standard sunlit/shaded leaf separation (two-leaf) and the multiple layer approaches and uses vertical foliage profiles measured by SLICER (the Scanning Lidar Imager of Canopies by Echo Recovery). Daily gross carbon assimilation rates calculated by this model were compared with the rates calculated by two other models, the two-leaf model and the combined two-leaf multilayer model utilizing uniform foliage profiles. The comparison was made over a wide range of profiles and weather conditions for two mixed deciduous forest stands in eastern Maryland, measured by SLICER in September 1995. Incident radiation pattern, environmental parameters and total amounts of sunlit and shaded leaves were the same for all three models. The difference was in the distributions of radiation and sunlit/shaded leaves inside the canopy. For the combined models, these distributions were calculated based on the vertical foliage profiles, while for the two-leaf model, empirical equations were used to account for the average amounts of absorbed radiation. The simulations showed that: (1) the use of a uniform foliage distribution instead of the actual one results in large differences in the calculated GPP values, up to 46.4% and 50.7% for the days with partial and total cloud cover; (2) the performance of the two-leaf model is extremely sensitive to the absorbed radiation pattern, its disagreement with the proposed model becomes insignificant when the average amounts of absorbed radiation are the same; (3) days with partial cloud cover and a greater fraction of diffuse radiation are characterized by higher GPP rates. These findings highlight the importance of vertical foliage profile and separate treatments of diffuse and direct radiation for photosynthesis modeling.     

View angle effects in the radiometric measurement of plant canopy temperatures

The thermal infrared sensor response from a wheat canopy was extremely non-Lambertian because of spatial variations in energy flow processes; the effective radiant temperature of the sensor varied as much as 13°C with changing view angle. This variation of sensor response was accurately quantified (root-mean-square of deviations between theoretical and measured responses reduced to 1.1°C) as a function of vegetation canopy geometry, vertical temperature distribution of canopy components, and sensor view angle. The results have important implications for optimizing sensor view angles for remote sensing missions.