Selecting the spatial resolution of satellite sensors required for global monitoring of land transformations

Abstract The spatial resolution of the next generation of sensors for the global monitoring of vegetation is assessed with particular reference to the proposed Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS). The main innovative use of such instruments will lie in their ability to monitor land transformations at global and continental scales. Reliable monitoring is shown to rely on the success with which the changes in the phenomena being analysed can be separated from other temporal changes. Depending on the type of spatial change being monitored, sensor properties such as accuracy of registration, resolution and radiometric sensitivity are shown to have greatest importance. An empirical investigation of the required spatial resolution is based on eight Landsat multispectral scanner system images of the normalized difference vegetation index degraded to candidate resolutions between 250 m and 4000 m. Pairs of images from different dates were registered and different images were then generated. Spatial a...

[1]  M. L. Heinselman.  Fire in the Virgin Forests of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota , 1973, Quaternary Research.

[2]  C. Tucker.  Red and photographic infrared linear combinations for monitoring vegetation , 1979 .

[3]  J. Townshend.  The spatial resolving power of earth resources satellites , 1980 .

[4]  J. Townshend,et al.  Land cover classification accuracy as a function of sensor spatial resolution , 1981 .

[5]  Brent N. Holben,et al.  Intensive forest clearing in Rondonia, Brazil, as detected by satellite remote sensing , 1984 .

[6]  P. Fearnside,et al.  Roads in Rondônia: Highway Construction and the Farce of Unprotected Reserves in Brazil's Amazonian Forest , 1984, Environmental Conservation.

[7]  Determination of volcanic dust deposition from El Chichon using ground and satellite data , 1985 .

[8]  Darrel L. Williams,et al.  The effects of spatial resolution on the classification of Thematic Mapper data , 1985 .

[9]  J. Townshend,et al.  African Land-Cover Classification Using Satellite Data , 1985, Science.

[10]  John Townshend,et al.  Multitemporal Dimensionality of Images of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index at Continental Scales , 1985, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[11]  Compton J. Tucker,et al.  Satellite remote sensing of total herbaceous biomass production in the Senegalese Sahel - 1980-1984 , 1985 .

[12]  P. Sellers.  Canopy reflectance, photosynthesis and transpiration , 1985 .

[13]  C. Justice,et al.  Analysis of the phenology of global vegetation using meteorological satellite data , 1985 .

[14]  Brent N. Holben,et al.  Identifying deforestation in Brazil using multiresolution satellite data , 1986 .

[15]  C. Justice,et al.  Analysis of the dynamics of African vegetation using the normalized difference vegetation index , 1986 .

[16]  C. Tucker,et al.  Satellite remote sensing of primary production , 1986 .

[17]  J. Malingreau.  Global vegetation dynamics - Satellite observations over Asia , 1986 .

[18]  Christopher O. Justice,et al.  Monitoring the grasslands of the Sahel using NOAA AVHRR data: Niger 1983 , 1986 .

[19]  On the behaviour of a stressed cotton canopy in a direct air stream , 1986 .

[20]  J. Durkin,et al.  GROWING PERIOD AND DROUGHT EARLY WARNING IN AFRICA USING SATELLITE DATA , 1986 .

[21]  Brent N. Holben,et al.  Directional reflectance response in AVHRR red and near-IR bands for three cover types and varying atmospheric conditions , 1986 .

[22]  P. Hiernaux,et al.  Suivi du développement végétal au cours de l'été 1984 dans le Sahel Malien , 1986 .

[23]  Ronald M. Welch,et al.  Cumulus Cloud Properties Derived Using Landsat Satellite Data , 1986 .

[24]  C. J. Tucker,et al.  Relationship between atmospheric CO2 variations and a satellite-derived vegetation index , 1986, Nature.

[25]  Brian L. Markham,et al.  Cover MODIS spatial resolution study , 1987 .

[26]  Inez Y. Fung,et al.  Application of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer vegetation index to study atmosphere‐biosphere exchange of CO2 , 1987 .

[27]  V. Salomonson,et al.  MODIS: advanced facility instrument for studies of the Earth as a system , 1989 .

[28]  C. Justice,et al.  Characterization and classification of South American land cover types using satellite data , 1987 .

[29]  C. Woodcock,et al.  The factor of scale in remote sensing , 1987 .

[30]  Andrew K. Wilson,et al.  The effective resolution element of Landsat Thematic Mapper , 1988 .

[31]  C. Justice,et al.  Spatial degradation of satellite data , 1989 .