The procedure PULREF, which converts optical remote sensing data to absolute reflectance values, is presented. This procedure can be applied to different hyperspectral (AVIRIS, CASI,...) and multispectral sensors (TM, SPOT,...) and for a wide range of atmospheric and flight conditions. It is based on the radiative transfer code LOWTRAN-7, which contains all important absorption features and also includes multiple scattering calculations. PULREF corrects the adjacency effect by considering the environment's influence on the signal measured by a sensor. The easy use of PULREF makes it suitable for application oriented users. The necessity of converting remote sensing data to absolute reflectance values is demonstrated in an example. On the basis of a multitemporal and multisensoral dataset, a regression between the arNDVI (NDVI based on absolute reflectance values) and the plant parameter LAI was determined. The relationship is valid for different vegetation periods and regions in Germany. The regression between the LAI and the arNDVI of airborne and spaceborne sensors coincides well with results from ground based radiometer measurements. The atmospheric correction scheme PULREF can therefore serve as a prerequisite for time and location independent extraction of land surface parameters from optical remote sensing data.

Date Published: 21 December 1994
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 2318, Recent Advances in Remote Sensing and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing, (21 December 1994); doi: 10.1117/12.197245

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2318:
Recent Advances in Remote Sensing and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing
Pat S. Chavez Jr.; Carlo M. Marino; Robert A. Schowengerdt, Editor(s)