Atmospheric correction for the monitoring of land surfaces

[1] This paper briefly describes the land surface reflectance product (MOD09), the current Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) atmospheric correction (AC) algorithm and its recent updates, and provides the evaluation of the algorithm performance and product quality. The accuracy of the AC algorithm has been significantly improved owing to the use of the accurate Second Simulation of a Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum, Vector (6SV) radiative transfer code and a better retrieval of aerosol properties by a refined internal aerosol inversion algorithm. The Collection 5 MOD09 surface reflectance product computed by the improved AC algorithm was analyzed for the year of 2003 through the comparison with a reference data set created with the help of Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) measurements and the 6SV code simulations. In general, the MOD09 product demonstrated satisfactory quality in all used MODIS bands except for band 3 (470 nm), which is used for aerosol inversion. The impact of uncertainties in MOD09 upon the downstream product, such as vegetation indices and albedo, was also evaluated.

[1]  Yoram J. Kaufman,et al.  Water vapor retrievals using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) near‐infrared channels , 2003 .

[2]  E. Vermote,et al.  Operational remote sensing of tropospheric aerosol over land from EOS moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer , 1997 .

[3]  E. Vermote,et al.  Operational Atmospheric Correction of MODIS Visible to Middle Infrared Land Surface Data in the Case of an Infinite Lambertian Target , 2006 .

[4]  C. Justice,et al.  Atmospheric correction of MODIS data in the visible to middle infrared: first results , 2002 .

[5]  S. Running,et al.  Synergistic algorithm for estimating vegetation canopy leaf area index and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active , 1998 .

[6]  Eric F. Vermote,et al.  True Color Earth Data Set Includes Seasonal Dynamics , 2006 .

[7]  Alan H. Strahler,et al.  An algorithm for the retrieval of albedo from space using semiempirical BRDF models , 2000, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[8]  D. Roy,et al.  Burned area mapping using multi-temporal moderate spatial resolution data—a bi-directional reflectance model-based expectation approach , 2002 .

[9]  E. Vermote,et al.  Validation of a vector version of the 6S radiative transfer code for atmospheric correction of satellite data. Part I: path radiance. , 2006, Applied optics.

[10]  C. Justice,et al.  Atmospheric correction of visible to middle-infrared EOS-MODIS data over land surfaces: Background, operational algorithm and validation , 1997 .

[11]  A. Strahler,et al.  Retrieval of Land Surface Albedo from Satellite Observations: A Simulation Study , 1999 .

[12]  E. Vermote,et al.  Validation of a vector version of the 6S radiative transfer code for atmospheric correction of satellite data. Part II. Homogeneous Lambertian and anisotropic surfaces. , 2007, Applied optics.

[13]  Alexei Lyapustin,et al.  SPHERICAL HARMONICS METHOD IN THE PROBLEM OF RADIATIVE TRANSFER IN THE ATMOSPHERE-SURFACE SYSTEM , 1999 .

[14]  A. Smirnov,et al.  AERONET-a federated instrument network and data archive for aerosol Characterization , 1998 .

[15]  A. Huete,et al.  Overview of the radiometric and biophysical performance of the MODIS vegetation indices , 2002 .

[16]  N. C. Strugnell,et al.  First operational BRDF, albedo nadir reflectance products from MODIS , 2002 .