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Organizers of the Aerosol Cloud Ecosystem (ACE) Science Working Group held a workshop at Goddard Space Flight Center June 16-18, 2014; speaker presentations will be made available on the ACE public website.
There are two basic methods for testing the quality of an algorithm to minimize atmospheric effects on LANDSAT imagery: (1) test the results a posteriori, using ground truth or control points; (2) use a method based on image data plus estimation of additional ground and/or atmospheric parameters. A procedure based on the second method is described. In order to select the parameters, initially the image contrast is examined for a series of parameter combinations. The contrast improves for better corrections. In addition the correlation coefficient between two subimages, taken at different times, of the same scene is used for parameter's selection. The regions to be correlated should not have changed considerably in time. A few examples using this proposed procedure are presented.
This paper describes a radiative transfer basis of the algorithm MAIAC which performs simultaneous retrievals of atmospheric aerosol and bidirectional surface reflectance from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The retrievals are based on an accurate semianalytical solution for the top-of-atmosphere reflectance expressed as an explicit function of three parameters of the Ross-Thick Li-Sparse model of surface bidirectional reflectance. This solution depends on certain functions of atmospheric properties and geometry which are precomputed in the look-up table (LUT). This paper further considers correction of the LUT functions for variations of surface pressure/height and of atmospheric water vapor, which is a common task in the operational remote sensing. It introduces a new analytical method for the water vapor correction of the multiple ]scattering path radiance. It also summarizes the few basic principles that provide a high efficiency and accuracy of the LUT ]based radiative transfer for the aerosol/surface retrievals and optimize the size of LUT. For example, the single-scattering path radiance is calculated analytically for a given surface pressure and atmospheric water vapor. The same is true for the direct surface-reflected radiance, which along with the single-scattering path radiance largely defines the angular dependence of measurements. For these calculations, the aerosol phase functions and kernels of the surface bidirectional reflectance model are precalculated at a high angular resolution. The other radiative transfer functions depend rather smoothly on angles because of multiple scattering and can be calculated at coarser angular resolution to reduce the LUT size. At the same time, this resolution should be high enough to use the nearest neighbor geometry angles to avoid costly three ]dimensional interpolation. The pressure correction is implemented via linear interpolation between two LUTs computed for the standard and reduced pressure levels. A linear mixture and a modified linear mixture methods are used to represent different aerosol types in the aerosol/surface retrievals from several base models of the fine and coarse aerosol fractions. In summary, the developed LUT algorithm allows fast high-accuracy simulations of the outgoing radiance with full variability of the atmospheric and surface bidirectional reflectance properties for the aerosol/surface remote sensing.
In order to utilize the quantitative accuracy built into the Thematic Mapper effectively, more attention must be paid to calibration before launch, changes of calibration before launch, changes of calibration with time in orbit, and atmospheric interference with the measurements, especially in the 450 to 520 nanometer band. Recent experience with the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) program has led to procedures wherein Rayleigh correction factors can be generated utilizing simultaneous surface truth data that empirically give correct upwelled surface radiances. Instruments, such as the CZCS, have shown that calibration changes first, and to the largest degree, at the shorter wave lengths, with lesser changes as wave length increases. These techniques are utilized to calculate a Rayleigh correction factor that, together with geometric terms, will give an accurate correction for this portion of the atmospheric contribution to the signal.
A model designed to predict the transfer of radiative energy in the earth atmosphere is described. The computational procedure accounts for absorption and scattering processes at visible and near infrared wavelengths. This paper reports on application of the atmospheric model to the interpretation of ERTS Multispectral Scanner (MSS) data. Spectrally-averaged values of the radiance emerging at the top of the atmosphere are computed for each MSS Band. It is concluded that ERTS MSS Band 4 data are to a high degree influenced by the water vapor content of the atmospere. Knowledge of the meteorological conditions at the time of an ERTS overpass appears to be necessary in order to achieve maximum classification accuracy. The impact of this conclusion upon the accuracy of identification of surface features will next be determined.
The Vegetation Index can be derived from top-of-atmosphere red and near-infrared radiances.
The LANDSAT-4 thematic mapper, with its wide spectral coverage and digitization to 8 bits per word, is a large step forward in the direction of quantitative radiometry from the multispectral scanner (MSS). In order to utilize the quantitative accuracy built into the thematic mapper effectively, more attention must be paid to calibration before launch, changes of calibration with time in orbit, and atmospheric interference with the measurements, especially in the 450 to 520 nanometer band. Experience with the coastal zone color scanner (CZCS) program led to procedures wherein Rayleigh correction factors can be generated utilizing simultaneous surface truth data that empirically give correct upwelled surface radiances, despite errors in sensor calibration, solar spectral irradiance measurements, and reported values of Rayleigh optical depth. These techniques offer sensitive tests for change in calibration, especially at shorter wavelengths. Instruments, such as the CZCS, have shown that calibration changes first, and to the largest degree, at the shorter wavelengths, with lesser changes as wavelength increases. These techniques are utilized to calculate a Rayleigh correction factor that, together with geometric terms, should give an accurate correction for this portion of the atmospheric contribution to the signal.
Mathematical model based on radiative transfer theory as applied to plane parallel, horizontally spatially homogeneous, isotropic atmosphere. Model includes effects of multiple scattering by gases and aerosols, and effects of absorption by ozone in near ultraviolet and visible parts of spectrum.
The corrections are presented for the visible and near infrared spectrum. The specifications of earth-atmosphere models are given. Herman's and Dave's methods of computing the four Stokes parameters are presented. The relative differences between the two sets of values are one percent. The absolute accuracy of the computations can be established only by comparisons with measured data. Suitable observations do not yet exist. Nevertheless, comparisons are made between computed and aircraft and satellite measured radiances. Particulates are the principal atmospheric variable in the window bands. They have a large effect on the radiances when the surface reflectivity is low. When the surface reflectivity exceeds 0.1, only absorbing particulates have a large effect on the reflectivity, unless the atmospheric turbidity is high. The ranges of the Multispectral Scanner responses to atmospheric effects are computed.
Microwave observations of the ocean surface are contaminated to a greater or lesser degree by the overlying atmosphere. The principal components of the atmosphere contributing to this contamination are molecular oxygen, water vapor, and water droplets. By means of measurements at several well-chosen frequencies, these atmospheric parameters may be removed from ocean observations and themselves retrieved as a by-product. This is the basic concept of the Scanning Multifrequency Radiometer (SMMR). These corrections may be made by quasi-linear means to useful accuracies, even in the presence of moderate rain.
The Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) is a unique sensor for two reasons, it is multispectral in the thermal-infrared and it has on board, active calibration sources. The existence of the calibration permits the recorded DNs to be converted unambiguously to absolute energy units. However, to relate the data to energy originating from a target on the ground it is necessary to remove the atmospheric contribution to the signal, specifically its transmittance and emittance. These can be obtained fairly easily by use of the atmospheric model provided by LOWTRAN-6 and the data from the U.S. Weather Service network of bidaily radiosondes. Using these data with the TIMS responsivity curves an equation can be obtained which permits the unambiguous correction of the TIMS data for the atmosphere.
The program Watts implements a system of physically based models developed by the authors, described elsewhere, for the removal of atmospheric effects in multispectral imagery. The band range we treat covers the visible, near IR and the thermal IR. Input to the program begins with atmospheric pal red models specifying transmittance and path radiance. The system also requires the sensor's spectral response curves and knowledge of the scanner's geometric definition. Radiometric characterization of the sensor during data acquisition is also necessary. While the authors contend that active calibration is critical for serious analytical efforts, we recognize that most remote sensing systems, either airborne or space borne, do not as yet attain that minimal level of sophistication. Therefore, Watts will also use semi-active calibration where necessary and available. All of the input is then reduced to common terms, in terms of the physical units. From this it Is then practical to convert raw sensor readings into geophysically meaningful units. There are a large number of intricate details necessary to bring an algorithm or this type to fruition and to even use the program. Further, at this stage of development the authors are uncertain as to the optimal presentation or minimal analytical techniques which users of this type of software must have. Therefore, Watts permits users to break out and analyze the input in various ways. Implemented in REXX under OS/2 the program is designed with attention to the probability that it will be ported to other systems and other languages. Further, as it is in REXX, it is relatively simple for anyone that is literate in any computer language to open the code and modify to meet their needs. The authors have employed Watts in their research addressing precision agriculture and urban heat island.
Remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) cannot be measured directly. Comparison of Rrs calculated from field measurements to Rrs calculated from AVIRIS spectra and the atmospheric radiative transfer model modtran provides a measure of the accuracy of our method. That and other comparisons are presented here as a validation of a method of retrieving Rrs from inland waters from AVIRIS radiance. The method of collecting field measurements for Rrs is described in Hamilton, 1993. Retrieval of Rrs from AVIRIS using modtran was developed from Carder, 1993. AVIRIS radiance is reduced by the path radiance modeled by modtran and divided by one-way transmission. Skylight, modeled by modtran, specularly reflected from the lake surface, is then subtracted from this radiance, leaving only that radiance which has come from under water. This water-leaving radiance is then normalized by the downwelling irradiance incident at the surface as modeled by modtran. Our improved retrieval of Rrs has allowed us to fit a single curve to a set of 134 pairs of AVIRIS Rrs and measured chlorophyll gathered on eight experiments at Mono Lake. Previously, spectra from different surveys varied more due to lingering atmospheric effects and/or radiometric calibration imprecision than they varied due to chlorophyll.
Variations in the relative value of the blue and green reflectances of a lake can be correlated with important optical and biological parameters measured from surface vessels. Measurement of the relative reflectance values from color film imagery requires removal of atmospheric effects. Data processing is particularly crucial because: (1) lakes are the darkest objects in a scene; (2) minor reflectance changes can correspond to important physical changes; (3) lake systems extend over broad areas in which atmospheric conditions may fluctuate; (4) seasonal changes are of importance; and, (5) effects of weather are important, precluding flights under only ideal weather conditions. Data processing can be accomplished through microdensitometry of scene shadow areas. Measurements of reflectance ratios can be made to an accuracy of plus or minus 12%, sufficient to permit monitoring of important eutrophication indices.
The Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) on Nimbus-7 is a scanning radiometer designed to view the ocean in six spectral bands (centered at 443, 520, 550, 670, 750, and 11,500 nm) for the purpose of estimating sea surface chlorophyll and temperature distributions. In the visible bands, the atmosphere obscures the imagery to the extent that at 443 nm, at most, only 20 percent of the observed radiance originates from beneath the sea surface. Retrieving this subsurface radiance from the imagery is complicated by the highly variable nature of the aerosol's contribution. In this paper, an algorithm for the removal of these atmospheric effects from CZCS imagery is described, a preliminary application of the algorithm to an image with very strong horizontal variations in the aerosol optical thickness is presented, and retrieval of the spatial distribution of the aerosol optical thickness is discussed.
Radiometric measurements from satellites in the solar portion of the electromagnetic spectrum can be converted to measurements of surface exitance. Over rugged terrain, the satellite image must be precisely registered to a terrain data set. For small areas a first-order polynomial interpolation scheme is generally satisfactory for the geometric rectification. If there are saturated pixels, a nearest-neighbor procedure is used for the interpolated satellite radiance numbers; otherwise a cubic-convolution algorithm is used. Path radiance and path transmittance are calculated with a simple spectral model, which requires an estimate of the water vapor and aerosol content of the atmosphere.
Before Nimbus-7 Costal Zone Color Scanner (CZC) data can be used to distinguish between coastal water types, methods must be developed for the removal of spatial variations in aerosol path radiance. These can dominate radiance measurements made by the satellite. An assessment is presently made of the ability of four different algorithms to quantitatively remove haze effects; each was adapted for the extraction of the required scene-dependent parameters during an initial pass through the data set The CZCS correction algorithms considered are (1) the Gordon (1981, 1983) algorithm; (2) the Smith and Wilson (1981) iterative algorityhm; (3) the pseudooptical depth method; and (4) the residual component algorithm.
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