Multitemporal-patch ensemble inversion of coupled surface-atmosphere radiative transfer models for land surface characterization

In the last few years, encouraging results using radiative transfer model inversion techniques were obtained for land biophysical variables retrieval. However, the inversion of radiative transfer models is a severely ill-posed problem that may lead to significant uncertainties in the biophysical variables estimates. Improvement of performances of the inversion process requires more information to be exploited including better radiative transfer models, exploitation of proper prior information on the distribution of canopy and atmosphere variables, knowledge of uncertainties in satellite measurements, as well as possible spatial and temporal constraints. In this study we focus on the use of coupled atmosphere-surface radiative transfer models (SMAC + SAIL + PROSPECT) to estimate some key biophysical variables from top of atmosphere canopy reflectance data. The inversion is achieved over an ensemble of pixels belonging to a spatial window where aerosol properties are supposed to be constant, and over a temporal window of few days where vegetation state is assumed not to vary. The ensemble inversion scheme accounting for the spatial and temporal constraints is described. Top of atmosphere reflectance observations are simulated for 13 bands within the visible and near infrared domains. The coupled model is inverted with a variational method implementation dedicated to solve very large inverse problems. It is based on the use of the adjoint model and a Quasi-Newton optimisation technique with BFGS update.The multitemporal-patch inversion approach exploiting the spatial and temporal constraints is compared to the classical instantaneous-local inversion applied on single pixel and date. The ‘ensemble’ approach shows significant performance improvements when retrieving aerosol optical thickness τ₅₅₀ and some canopy characteristics (LAI, LAI × C_ab and ALA). Conclusions are drawn on the interest of such approaches, and perspectives are given, with due attention to their applicability within operational algorithms.     

Inversion of a radiative transfer model with hyperspectral observations for LAI mapping in poplar plantations

The potential of radiative transfer modelling and inversion techniques for operational uses is investigated in order to retrieve leaf area index in a poplar plantation. The 1-D bidirectional canopy reflectance model SAIL, coupled with the leaf optical properties model PROSPECT, was inverted with hyperspectral airborne DAIS data by means of an iterative method. The root mean square error in LAI estimation was determined against in situ measurements in order to evaluate the impact of different inversion strategies on the LAI retrieval accuracy. These included the selection of an optimal spectral sampling set, the exploitation of prior knowledge in the inversion process and the use of multiview angle data. We claim that the best configuration is achieved by exploiting multiview DAIS data and prior knowledge information about the model variables (RMSE of 0.39 m² m⁻²). It is also shown that the use of prior knowledge and the selection of a limited number of bands forming the optimal spectral sampling are instrumental in increasing the accuracy of the inversion process. Our analysis confirms the operational potential of model inversion for biophysical parameter retrieval.     

Optimal modalities for radiative transfer-neural network estimation of canopy biophysical characteristics: Evaluation over an agricultural area with CHRIS/PROBA observations

Neural networks trained over radiative transfer simulations constitute the basis of several operational algorithms to estimate canopy biophysical variables from satellite reflectance measurements. However, only little attention was paid to the training process which has a major impact on retrieval performances. This study focused on the several modalities of the training process within neural network estimation of LAI, FCOVER and FAPAR biophysical variables. Performances were evaluated over both actual experimental observations and model simulations. The SAIL and PROSPECT radiative transfer models were used here to simulate the training and the synthetic test datasets. Measurements of LAI, FCOVER and FAPAR were achieved over the Barrax (Spain) agricultural site for a range of crop types concurrently to CHRIS/PROBA satellite image acquisition. Results showed that the spectral band selection was specific to LAI, FCOVER and FAPAR variables. The optimal band set provided significantly improved performances for LAI, while only small differences were observed for the other variables. Gaussian distributions of the radiative transfer model input variables performed better than uniform distributions for which no prior information was exploited. Including moderate uncertainties in the reflectance simulations used in the training process improved the flexibility of the neural network in cases where simulations departed slightly from observations. Simple neural network architecture with a single hidden layer of five tangent sigmoid transfer functions was performing as good as more complex architectures if the training dataset was larger than ten times the number of coefficients to tune. Small sensitivity of performances was observed depending on the way the solution was selected when several networks were trained in parallel. Finally, comparison with a NDVI based approach showed the generally better retrieval accuracy of neural networks.     

Inversion of a radiative transfer model for estimating vegetation LAI and chlorophyll in a heterogeneous grassland

Radiative transfer models have seldom been applied for studying heterogeneous grassland canopies. Here, the potential of radiative transfer modeling to predict LAI and leaf and canopy chlorophyll contents in a heterogeneous Mediterranean grassland is investigated. The widely used PROSAIL model was inverted with canopy spectral reflectance measurements by means of a look-up table (LUT). Canopy spectral measurements were acquired in the field using a GER 3700 spectroradiometer, along with simultaneous in situ measurements of LAI and leaf chlorophyll content. We tested the impact of using multiple solutions, stratification (according to species richness), and spectral subsetting on parameter retrieval. To assess the performance of the model inversion, the normalized RMSE and R² between independent in situ measurements and estimated parameters were used. Of the three investigated plant characteristics, canopy chlorophyll content was estimated with the highest accuracy (R² = 0.70, NRMSE = 0.18). Leaf chlorophyll content, on the other hand, could not be estimated with acceptable accuracy, while LAI was estimated with intermediate accuracy (R² = 0.59, NRMSE = 0.18). When only sample plots with up to two species were considered (n = 107), the estimation accuracy for all investigated variables (LAI, canopy chlorophyll content and leaf chlorophyll content) increased (NRMSE = 0.14, 0.16, 0.19, respectively). This shows the limits of the PROSAIL radiative transfer model in the case of very heterogeneous conditions. We also found that a carefully selected spectral subset contains sufficient information for a successful model inversion. Our results confirm the potential of model inversion for estimating vegetation biophysical parameters at the canopy scale in (moderately) heterogeneous grasslands using hyperspectral measurements.     

Estimating winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) LAI and leaf chlorophyll content from canopy reflectance data by integrating agronomic prior knowledge with the PROSAIL model

Leaf area index (LAI) and leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) are major considerations in management decisions, agricultural planning, and policy-making. When a radiative transfer model (RTM) was used to retrieve these biophysical variables from remote-sensing data, the ill-posed problem was unavoidable. In this study, we focused on the use of agronomic prior knowledge (APK), constructing the relationship between LAI and LCC, to restrict and mitigate the ill-posed inversion results. For this purpose, the inversion results obtained using the SAILH+PROSPECT (PROSAIL) canopy reflectance model alone (no agronomic prior knowledge, NAPK) and those linked with APK were compared. The results showed that LAI inversion had high accuracy. The validation results of the root mean square error (RMSE) between measured and estimated LAI were 0.74 and 0.69 for NAPK and APK, respectively. Compared with NAPK, APK improved LCC estimation; the corresponding RMSE values of NAPK and APK were 13.36 µg cm^–2 and 9.35 µg cm^–2, respectively. Our analysis confirms the operational potential of PROSAIL model inversion for the retrieval of biophysical variables by integrating APK.     

Water content estimation in vegetation with MODIS reflectance data and model inversion methods

Statistical and radiative-transfer physically based studies have previously demonstrated the relationship between leaf water content and leaf-level reflectance in the near-infrared spectral region. The successful scaling up of such methods to the canopy level requires modeling the effect of canopy structure and viewing geometry on reflectance bands and optical indices used for estimation of water content, such as normalized difference water index (NDWI), simple ratio water index (SRWI) and plant water index (PWI). This study conducts a radiative transfer simulation, linking leaf and canopy models, to study the effects of leaf structure, dry matter content, leaf area index (LAI), and the viewing geometry, on the estimation of leaf equivalent water thickness from canopy-level reflectance. The applicability of radiative transfer model inversion methods to MODIS is studied, investigating its spectral capability for water content estimation. A modeling study is conducted, simulating leaf and canopy MODIS-equivalent synthetic spectra with random input variables to test different inversion assumptions. A field sampling campaign to assess the investigated simulation methods was undertaken for analysis of leaf water content from leaf samples in 10 study sites of chaparral vegetation in California, USA, between March and September 2000. MODIS reflectance data were processed from the same period for equivalent water thickness estimation by model inversion linking the PROSPECT leaf model and SAILH canopy reflectance model. MODIS reflectance data, viewing geometry values, and LAI were used as inputs in the model inversion for estimation of leaf equivalent water thickness, dry matter, and leaf structure. Results showed good correlation between the time series of MODIS-estimated equivalent water thickness and ground measured leaf fuel moisture (LFM) content (r²=0.7), demonstrating that these inversion methods could potentially be used for global monitoring of leaf water content in vegetation.     

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.     

Estimating forest variables from top-of-atmosphere radiance satellite measurements using coupled radiative transfer models

Traditionally, it is necessary to pre-process remote sensing data to obtain top of canopy (TOC) reflectances before applying physically-based model inversion techniques to estimate forest variables. Corrections for atmospheric, adjacency, topography, and surface directional effects are applied sequentially and independently, accumulating errors into the TOC reflectance data, which are then further used in the inversion process. This paper presents a proof of concept for demonstrating the direct use of measured top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance data to estimate forest biophysical and biochemical variables, by using a coupled canopy-atmosphere radiative transfer model. Advantages of this approach are that no atmospheric correction is needed and that atmospheric, adjacency, topography, and surface directional effects can be directly and more accurately included in the forward modelling.In the case study, we applied both TOC and TOA approaches to three Norway spruce stands in Eastern Czech Republic. We used the SLC soil-leaf-canopy model and the MODTRAN4 atmosphere model. For the TOA approach, the physical coupling between canopy and atmosphere was performed using a generic method based on the 4-stream radiative transfer theory which enables full use of the directional reflectance components provided by SLC. The method uses three runs of the atmosphere model for Lambertian surfaces, and thus avoids running the atmosphere model for each new simulation. We used local sensitivity analysis and singular value decomposition to determine which variables could be estimated, namely: canopy cover, fraction of bark, needle chlorophyll, and dry matter content. TOC and TOA approaches resulted in different sets of estimates, but had comparable performance. The TOC approach, however, was at its best potential because of the flatness and homogeneity of the area. On the contrary, the capacities of the TOA approach would be better exploited in heterogeneous rugged areas. We conclude that, having similar performance, the TOA approach should be preferred in situations where minimizing the pre-processing is important, such as in data assimilation and multi-sensor studies.     

A dorsiventral leaf radiative transfer model: Development, validation and improved model inversion techniques

A Dorsiventral Leaf Model (DLM) is presented to simulate leaf radiative transfer. DLM was conceived as a plate model with a stochastic distribution of different groups of layers. Leaf asymmetry was modeled by assigning non-uniform distributions of pigments, water and dry matter to palisade and mesophyll layers and by simulating different amounts of light diffusion for adaxially and abaxially incident light. Surface reflections are based on micro-facets theory enabling the simulation of directional-hemispherical reflectance and a range of bidirectional reflectance factors. Adaxial and abaxial optical properties could be accurately simulated for a variety of leaf types with an overall error in reflectance and transmittance below 1.3%.Sensitivity analysis focused on optimizing model inversion schemes improves parameter estimation accuracy. Different inversion schemes were compared for two independent datasets. Results underpin most of the propositions of the sensitivity analysis: (i) masking the near-infrared wavelengths (band weighting) to account for variability in the dry matter composition consistently increased predicted accuracies for dry matter content, (ii) white reflectance measurements (reflectance with a 100% diffusely reflecting background) provided results superior to other optical measurements, making it a valuable and fast alternative and (iii) combining reflectance and transmittance into absorptance however did not result in improvements. Comparisons of DLM with the PROSPECT 5 model indicate an almost equal performance in content estimations. Improvements were thus not related to differences in model structure but to techniques that reduce the impact of leaf structure and compensate for sampling errors and variations in specific absorption spectra. DLM has important potential in the study of leaf radiative transfer and in the integration with canopy radiative transfer models.     

Influence of atmospheric correction on the estimation of biophysical parameters of crop canopy using satellite remote sensing

A quantitative approach has been made for the estimation of biophysical parameters of a vegetation canopy by the inversion of a vegetation canopy reflectance model. Model inversion has been done using a non-linear optimization scheme against directional reflectance data over the canopy. A quasi-Newton algorithm has been employed that searches the minimum of a function iteratively using the functional values only. The technique provides a reasonably good estimation of the biophysical parameters. A study has been conducted to quantify the error related to the estimation of biophysical parameters of vegetation with simulated satellite data corrected with improper values of atmospheric aerosol and water vapour contents. In the visible, atmospheric correction of satellite data with improper values of atmospheric aerosol content results in a modification of the amplitude and angular pattern of the directional reflectance for both low-density and high-density vegetation canopies. However, in the near-infrared, the atmospheric correction of data with improper values of aerosol and water vapour contents changes the amplitude of directional reflectance, but, no significant changes in angular pattern are noticed. This study indicates that parameter estimation can be significantly influenced by using improper values of both aerosol and water vapour contents during data correction in the visible and near-infrared regions of the solar spectrum. The estimation accuracy is higher for a low-density canopy than for a dense vegetation canopy. Retrievals of all the surface parameters are not equally affected by such improper atmospheric correction of data. Particularly, estimations of soil reflectance and leaf area index are significantly influenced by such improper correction for a high-density vegetation canopy. However, the accuracy of the retrieved parameter values is higher in the near-infrared than in the visible for both high-density and low-density canopies.     

Landsat8卫星影像大气校正及其植被指数与SEVI性能比较

遥感影像受大气的吸收散射以及地形起伏变化的影响,使得传感器接收到的辐射信号既包含了地物的信息,同时也包含了大气以及地形的信息。为了提高地表反射率的反演精度,需要去除遥感影像中大气和地形的影响。提出了一种基于查找表的Landsat8-OLI遥感影像的大气校正方法,该方法由6S辐射传输模型生成查找表,其中输入的参数包括大气水蒸汽含量、臭氧浓度和气溶胶光学厚度等MODIS大气参数产品。利用传统方法建立的大气参数查找表通常只考虑一部分因素,这对于以MODIS产品为输入参数的大气校正是不适用的。本文建立了一个包括大部分输入参数的高维大气校正查找表,对于Landsat-8 OLI传感器具有很高的通用性,通过进行光谱分析、与USGS地表反射率产品交叉验证等方式来验证模型的精度。验证结果表明该方法能有效地反演精确可靠的地表反射率。最后,采用目视解译、统计分析将校正结果与SEVI做对比分析,比较地形影响消减的效果。结果表明该模型与SEVI在地形消减的效果上作用相当。     

Landsat8卫星影像大气校正及其植被指数与SEVI性能比较

遥感影像受大气的吸收散射以及地形起伏变化的影响，使得传感器接收到的辐射信号既包含了地物的信息，同时也包含了大气以及地形的信息。为了提高地表反射率的反演精度，需要去除遥感影像中大气和地形的影响。提出了一种基于查找表的Landsat8-OLI遥感影像的大气校正方法，该方法由6S辐射传输模型生成查找表，其中输入的参数包括大气水蒸汽含量、臭氧浓度和气溶胶光学厚度等MODIS大气参数产品。利用传统方法建立的大气参数查找表通常只考虑一部分因素，这对于以MODIS产品为输入参数的大气校正是不适用的。本文建立了一个包括大部分输入参数的高维大气校正查找表，对于Landsat-8 OLI传感器具有很高的通用性，通过进行光谱分析、与USGS地表反射率产品交叉验证等方式来验证模型的精度。验证结果表明该方法能有效地反演精确可靠的地表反射率。最后，采用目视解译、统计分析将校正结果与SEVI做对比分析，比较地形影响消减的效果。结果表明该模型与SEVI在地形消减的效果上作用相当。     

Needle chlorophyll content estimation through model inversion using hyperspectral data from boreal conifer forest canopies

Leaf chlorophyll content in coniferous forest canopies, a measure of stand condition, is the target of studies and models linking leaf reflectance and transmittance and canopy hyperspectral reflectance imagery. The viability of estimation of needle chlorophyll content from airborne hyperspectral optical data through inversion of linked leaf level and canopy level radiative transfer models is discussed in this paper. This study is focused on five sites of Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) in the Algoma Region (Canada), where field, laboratory and airborne data were collected in 1998 and 1999 campaigns. Airborne hyperspectral CASI data of 72 bands in the visible and near-infrared region and 2 m spatial resolution were collected from 20×20 m study sites of Jack Pine in 2 consecutive years. It was found that needle chlorophyll content could be estimated at the leaf level (r²=0.4) by inversion of the PROSPECT leaf model from needle reflectance and transmittance spectra collected with a special needle carrier apparatus coupled to the Li-Cor 1800 integrating sphere. The Jack Pine forest stands used for this study with LAI>2, and the high spatial resolution hyperspectral reflectance collected, allowed the use of the SPRINT canopy reflectance model coupled to PROSPECT for needle chlorophyll content estimation by model inversion. The optical index R750/R710 was used as the merit function in the numerical inversion to minimize the effect of shadows and LAI variation in the mean canopy reflectance from the 20×20 m plots. Estimates of needle pigment content from airborne hyperspectral reflectance using this linked leaf-canopy model inversion methodology showed an r²=0.4 and RMSE=8.1 μg/cm² when targeting sunlit crown pixels in Jack Pine sites with pigment content ranging between 26.8 and 56.8 μg/cm² (1570-3320 μg/g).     

Characterization of seasonal variation of forest canopy in a temperate deciduous broadleaf forest, using daily MODIS data

In this paper, we present an improved procedure for collecting no or little atmosphere- and snow-contaminated observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor. The resultant time series of daily MODIS data of a temperate deciduous broadleaf forest (the Bartlett Experimental Forest) in 2004 show strong seasonal dynamics of surface reflectance of green, near infrared and shortwave infrared bands, and clearly delineate leaf phenology and length of plant growing season. We also estimate the fractions of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) absorbed by vegetation canopy (FAPAR_canopy), leaf (FAPAR_leaf), and chlorophyll (FAPAR_chl), respectively, using a coupled leaf-canopy radiative transfer model (PROSAIL-2) and daily MODIS data. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method (the Metropolis algorithm) is used for model inversion, which provides probability distributions of the retrieved variables. A two-step procedure is used to estimate the fractions of absorbed PAR: (1) to retrieve biophysical and biochemical variables from MODIS images using the PROSAIL-2 model; and (2) to calculate the fractions with the estimated model variables from the first step. Inversion and forward simulations of the PROSAIL-2 model are carried out for the temperate deciduous broadleaf forest during day of year (DOY) 184 to 201 in 2005. The reproduced reflectance values from the PROSAIL-2 model agree well with the observed MODIS reflectance for the five spectral bands (green, red, NIR₁, NIR₂, and SWIR₁). The estimated leaf area index, leaf dry matter, leaf chlorophyll content and FAPAR_canopy values are close to field measurements at the site. The results also showed significant differences between FAPAR_canopy and FAPAR_chl at the site. Our results show that MODIS imagery provides important information on biophysical and biochemical variables at both leaf and canopy levels.     

基于数据机理的植被叶面积指数遥感反演研究

定量获取地表植被高精度时序及空间覆盖的叶面积指数（Leaf Area Index, LAI）是生态监测及农业生产应用的重要研究内容。通过使用Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer（MODIS）植被冠层多角度观测MOD09GA数据及叶面积指数MOD15A2数据,发展了一种参数化的叶面积指数遥感反演方法并完成了必要的检验分析。研究使用基于辐射传输理论的RossThick LiSparse Reciprocal（RTLSR）核驱动模型及Scattering by Arbitrarily Inclined Leaves with Hotspot（SAILH）模型进行植被冠层辐射特征的提取,使用Anisotropic Index （ANIX）异质性指数作为指示植被冠层二向反射分布Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function（BRDF）的辅助特征信息,发展了基于数据机理（Data-Based Mechanistic, DBM）的植被叶面积指数建模和估算方法。通过必要的林地、农作物、草地植被实验区反演及数值分析可得知：①时间序列多角度遥感观测数据结合数据机理的叶面积指数估算方法,可实现模型参数的时序动态更新,改进叶面积指数估算结果的时序完整性及精度。②异质性指数可以用做指示植被冠层二向反射分布特征信息,可降低因观测数据几何条件差异所导致的反演结果不确定情况,同时能够补充植被时序生长过程表现的植被结构变化等动态特征。经研究实践,可将算法应用于时空尺度的叶面积指数估算,并能够为生态、农业应用提供植被的高精度遥感监测指标。     

Remote sensing of biophysical variables in boreal forest stands of Picea mariana

Using two hybrid radiative transfer models to represent conifer canopies and stands, algorithms to infer several important structural parameters of stands of black spruce (Picea mariana), the most common boreal forest dominant, were developed and evaluated. Spectral mixture analysis and multi-spectral reflectance data for 31 black spruce stands of varying density and structure were used to infer the values for the areal proportions of sunlit canopy, sunlit background and shadow fraction, which we call radiometric elements, and the areal proportions of these radiometric elements were strongly related to leaf area index, biomass density, and annual above ground net primary productivity. The best overall correspondence between the radiometric elements and biophysical variables was found from the shadow fraction obtained with the cone-based canopy reflectance model corrected for variations in solar zenith angle.     

Inversion of a coupled canopy-atmosphere model using multi-angular top-of-atmosphere radiance data: A forest case study

Since the launch of sensors with angular observation capabilities, such as CHRIS and MISR, the additional potential of multi-angular observations for vegetation structural and biochemical variables has been widely recognised. Various methods have been successfully implemented to estimate forest biochemical and biophysical variables from atmospherically-corrected multi-angular data, but the use of physically based radiative transfer (RT) models is still limited. Because both canopy and atmosphere have an anisotropic behaviour, it is important to understand the multi-angular signal measured by the sensor at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). Coupled canopy-atmosphere RT models allow linking surface variables directly to the TOA radiance measured by the sensor and are therefore very interesting tools to use for estimating forest variables from multi-angular data.We investigated the potential of TOA multi-angular radiance data for estimating forest variables by inverting a coupled canopy-atmosphere physical RT model. The case study focussed on three Norway spruce stands located at the Bily Kriz experimental site (Czech Republic), for which multi-angular CHRIS and field data were acquired in September 2006. The soil-leaf-canopy RT model SLC and the atmospheric model MODTRAN4 were coupled using a method allowing to make full use of the four canopy angular reflectance components provided by SLC. The TOA radiance simulations were in good agreement with the spectral and angular signatures measured by CHRIS. Singular value decompositions of the Jacobian matrices showed that the dimensionality of the variable estimation problem increased from 3 to 6 when increasing the number of observation angles from 1 to 4. The model inversion was conducted for two cases: 4 and 7 variables. The most influential parameters were chosen as free variables in the look-up tables, namely: vertical crown cover (Cv), fraction of bark material (fB), needle chlorophyll content (needleCab), needle dry matter content (needleCdm) for the 4-variable case, and additionally, tree shape factor (Zeta), dissociation factor (D), and needle brown pigments content (needleCs) in the 7-variable case. All angular combinations were tested, and the best estimates were obtained with combinations using two or three angles, depending on the number of variables and on the stand used. Overall, this case study showed that, although making use of its full potential is still a challenge, TOA multi-angular radiance data do have a higher potential for variable estimation than mono-angular data.     

Estimating light absorption by chlorophyll, leaf and canopy in a deciduous broadleaf forest using MODIS data and a radiative transfer model

In this paper, we present a theoretical and modeling framework to estimate the fractions of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) absorbed by vegetation canopy (FAPAR_canopy), leaf (FAPAR_leaf ), and chlorophyll (FAPAR_chl), respectively. FAPAR_canopy is an important biophysical variable and has been used to estimate gross and net primary production. However, only PAR absorbed by chlorophyll is used for photosynthesis, and therefore there is a need to quantify FAPAR_chl. We modified and coupled a leaf radiative transfer model (PROSPECT) and a canopy radiative transfer model (SAIL-2), and incorporated a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method (the Metropolis algorithm) for model inversion, which provides probability distributions of the retrieved variables. Our two-step procedure is: (1) to retrieve biophysical and biochemical variables using coupled PROSPECT + SAIL-2 model (PROSAIL-2), combined with multiple daily images (five spectral bands) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor; and (2) to calculate FAPAR_canopy, FAPAR_leaf and FAPAR_chl with the estimated model variables from the first step. We evaluated our approach for a temperate forest area in the Northeastern US, using MODIS data from 2001 to 2003. The inverted PROSAIL-2 fit the observed MODIS reflectance data well for the five MODIS spectral bands. The estimated leaf area index (LAI) values are within the range of field measured data. Significant differences between FAPAR_canopy and FAPAR_chl are found for this test case. Our study demonstrates the potential for using a model such as PROSAIL-2, combined with an inverse approach, for quantifying FAPAR_chl, FAPAR_leaf, FAPAR_canopy, biophysical variables, and biochemical variables for deciduous broadleaf forests at leaf- and canopy-levels over time.     

Utility of an image-based canopy reflectance modeling tool for remote estimation of LAI and leaf chlorophyll content at the field scale

This paper presents a physically-based approach for estimating critical variables describing land surface vegetation canopies, relying on remotely sensed data that can be acquired from operational satellite sensors. The REGularized canopy reFLECtance (REGFLEC) modeling tool couples leaf optics (PROSPECT), canopy reflectance (ACRM), and atmospheric radiative transfer (6SV1) model components, facilitating the direct use of at-sensor radiances in green, red and near-infrared wavelengths for the inverse retrieval of leaf chlorophyll content (C_ab) and total one-sided leaf area per unit ground area (LAI). The inversion of the canopy reflectance model is constrained by assuming limited variability of leaf structure, vegetation clumping, and leaf inclination angle within a given crop field and by exploiting the added radiometric information content of pixels belonging to the same field. A look-up-table with a suite of pre-computed spectral reflectance relationships, each a function of canopy characteristics, soil background effects and external conditions, is accessed for fast pixel-wise biophysical parameter retrievals. Using 1 m resolution aircraft and 10 m resolution SPOT-5 imagery, REGFLEC effectuated robust biophysical parameter retrievals for a corn field characterized by a wide range in leaf chlorophyll levels and intermixed green and senescent leaf material. Validation against in-situ observations yielded relative root-mean-square deviations (RMSD) on the order of 10% for the 1 m resolution LAI (RMSD = 0.25) and C_ab (RMSD = 4.4 μg cm^− 2) estimates, due in part to an efficient correction for background influences. LAI and C_ab retrieval accuracies at the SPOT 10 m resolution were characterized by relative RMSDs of 13% (0.3) and 17% (7.1 μg cm^− 2), respectively, and the overall intra-field pattern in LAI and C_ab was well established at this resolution. The developed method has utility in agricultural fields characterized by widely varying distributions of model variables and holds promise as a valuable operational tool for precision crop management. Work is currently in progress to extend REGFLEC to regional scales.