Comparison of the sensor dependence of vegetation indices based on Hyperion and CHRIS hyperspectral data

In previous studies of the universal pattern decomposition method (UPDM), spectral shifts, which are very common in hyperspectral imaging spectrometers, were not taken into account when calculating standard spectral pattern vectors. This study evaluated the effect of spectral shifts on the sensor dependence of the vegetation index based on the UPDM (VIUPD) and 11 other vegetation indices (VIs). Spectral shifts were calculated using Gao's spectrum-matching method. The influences of smoothing techniques (moving average and Savitzky–Golay filters) on the consistency of these VIs were also evaluated and compared. Data from the typical narrowband imaging spectrometers, Hyperion and the Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS), were chosen for the study. For all VIs, both smoothing and spectral calibration changed the consistency between Hyperion and CHRIS. Spectral calibration had a positive effect on the majority of VIs, whereas smoothing improved the performance of some VIs but decreased the consistency of others. When compared with spectral calibration and Savitzky–Golay smoothing, moving average generated greater variations within the results. Among the smoothing techniques employed, moving average smoothing exhibited a larger distortion of VI sensor dependency than that of Savitzky–Golay smoothing of the same order. VIUPD based on narrowband hyperspectral data was sensitive to spectral operations (spectral calibration and smoothing). For VIUPD, spectral calibration increased its sensor independence, whereas smoothing had a negative effect. After spectral calibration, VIUPD was more sensor independent than any other VI examined in this study.