Recent advances of modeling lidar data using dart and radiometric calibration coefficient from LVIS waveforms comparison

The fast development of the light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technique, especially with scanning and multi-beam systems that launch pulses along different directions, requires efficient and accurate simulation tools to analyze existing data and to design future systems. This work presents the recent advantages of the discrete anisotropic radiative transfer (DART) model in LiDAR data simulation. A more comprehensive comparison between DART-simulated waveforms and Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) over Howland forest, Maine is presented. Results show that in addition to waveform shape simulation, radiometric calibration coefficients could be inferred from the comparison. This new discovery could provide an approach for possible radiometric modeling of LiDAR data, that convert the digital number of the waveform into actual energy.

[1]  Guoqing Sun,et al.  Modeling lidar returns from forest canopies , 2000, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[2]  Hideki Kobayashi,et al.  A coupled 1-D atmosphere and 3-D canopy radiative transfer model for canopy reflectance, light environment, and photosynthesis simulation in a heterogeneous landscape , 2008 .

[3]  Guoqing Sun,et al.  Simulation of satellite, airborne and terrestrial LiDAR with DART (I): Waveform simulation with quasi-Monte Carlo ray tracing , 2016 .

[4]  Mathias Disney,et al.  Quantifying Surface Reflectivity for Spaceborne Lidar via Two Independent Methods , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[5]  Jean-Philippe Gastellu-Etchegorry,et al.  Simulation of satellite, airborne and terrestrial LiDAR with DART (II): ALS and TLS multi-pulse acquisitions, photon counting, and solar noise , 2016 .

[6]  V. Stanley Scott,et al.  The Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar (MABEL): An Airborne Simulator for the ICESat-2 Mission , 2013 .

[7]  Peter R. J. North,et al.  A Monte Carlo radiative transfer model of satellite waveform LiDAR , 2010 .

[8]  J. Blair,et al.  Modeling laser altimeter return waveforms over complex vegetation using high‐resolution elevation data , 1999 .

[9]  Gérard Dedieu,et al.  Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART 5) for Modeling Airborne and Satellite Spectroradiometer and LIDAR Acquisitions of Natural and Urban Landscapes , 2015, Remote. Sens..

[10]  Michel M. Verstraete,et al.  Raytran: a Monte Carlo ray-tracing model to compute light scattering in three-dimensional heterogeneous media , 1998, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[11]  J. Blair,et al.  The Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor: a medium-altitude, digitisation-only, airborne laser altimeter for mapping vegetation and topography , 1999 .

[12]  Roberta E. Martin,et al.  Carnegie Airborne Observatory-2: Increasing science data dimensionality via high-fidelity multi-sensor fusion , 2012 .

[13]  V. Demarez,et al.  Modeling radiative transfer in heterogeneous 3D vegetation canopies , 1995, Remote Sensing.

[14]  Mathias Disney,et al.  Monte Carlo ray tracing in optical canopy reflectance modelling , 2000 .