Retrieval of Specific Leaf Area From Landsat-8 Surface Reflectance Data Using Statistical and Physical Models

Author(s):  
Abebe Mohammed Ali ◽  
Roshanak Darvishzadeh ◽  
Andrew K. Skidmore
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiwon Lee ◽  
Kwangseob Kim ◽  
Sun-Gu Lee ◽  
Yongseung Kim

Surface reflectance data obtained by the absolute atmospheric correction of satellite images are useful for land use applications. For Landsat and Sentinel-2 images, many radiometric processing methods exist, and the images are supported by most types of commercial and open-source software. However, multispectral KOMPSAT-3A images with a resolution of 2.2 m are currently lacking tools or open-source resources for obtaining top-of-canopy (TOC) reflectance data. In this study, an atmospheric correction module for KOMPSAT-3A images was newly implemented into the optical calibration algorithm in the Orfeo Toolbox (OTB), with a sensor model and spectral response data for KOMPSAT-3A. Using this module, named OTB extension for KOMPSAT-3A, experiments on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were conducted based on TOC reflectance data with or without aerosol properties from AERONET. The NDVI results for these atmospherically corrected data were compared with those from the dark object subtraction (DOS) scheme, a relative atmospheric correction method. The NDVI results obtained using TOC reflectance with or without the AERONET data were considerably different from the results obtained from the DOS scheme and the Landsat-8 surface reflectance of the Google Earth Engine (GEE). It was found that the utilization of the aerosol parameter of the AERONET data affects the NDVI results for KOMPSAT-3A images. The TOC reflectance of high-resolution satellite imagery ensures further precise analysis and the detailed interpretation of urban forestry or complex vegetation features.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3121
Author(s):  
Roya Mourad ◽  
Hadi Jaafar ◽  
Martha Anderson ◽  
Feng Gao

Leaf area index (LAI) is an essential indicator of crop development and growth. For many agricultural applications, satellite-based LAI estimates at the farm-level often require near-daily imagery at medium to high spatial resolution. The combination of data from different ongoing satellite missions, Sentinel 2 (ESA) and Landsat 8 (NASA), provides this opportunity. In this study, we evaluated the leaf area index generated from three methods, namely, existing vegetation index (VI) relationships applied to Harmonized Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 (HLS) surface reflectance produced by NASA, the SNAP biophysical model, and the THEIA L2A surface reflectance products from Sentinel-2. The intercomparison was conducted over the agricultural scheme in Bekaa (Lebanon) using a large set of in-field LAIs and other biophysical measurements collected in a wide variety of canopy structures during the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons. The major studied crops include herbs (e.g., cannabis: Cannabis sativa, mint: Mentha, and others), potato (Solanum tuberosum), and vegetables (e.g., bean: Phaseolus vulgaris, cabbage: Brassica oleracea, carrot: Daucus carota subsp. sativus, and others). Additionally, crop-specific height and above-ground biomass relationships with LAIs were investigated. Results show that of the empirical VI relationships tested, the EVI2-based HLS models statistically performed the best, specifically, the LAI models originally developed for wheat (RMSE:1.27), maize (RMSE:1.34), and row crops (RMSE:1.38). LAI derived through European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP) biophysical processor underestimated LAI and provided less accurate estimates (RMSE of 1.72). Additionally, the S2 SeLI LAI algorithm (from SNAP biophysical processor) produced an acceptable accuracy level compared to HLS-EVI2 models (RMSE of 1.38) but with significant underestimation at high LAI values. Our findings show that the LAI-VI relationship, in general, is crop-specific with both linear and non-linear regression forms. Among the examined indices, EVI2 outperformed other vegetation indices when all crops were combined, and therefore it can be identified as an index that is best suited for a unified algorithm for crops in semi-arid irrigated regions with heterogeneous landscapes. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the observed height-LAI relationship is crop-specific and essentially linear with an R2 value of 0.82 for potato, 0.79 for wheat, and 0.50 for both cannabis and tobacco. The ability of the linear regression to estimate the fresh and dry above-ground biomass of potato from both observed height and LAI was reasonable, yielding R2: ~0.60.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 2517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huaan Jin ◽  
Weixing Xu ◽  
Ainong Li ◽  
Xinyao Xie ◽  
Zhengjian Zhang ◽  
...  

As a key parameter that represents the structural characteristics and biophysical changes of crop canopy, the leaf area index (LAI) plays a significant role in monitoring crop growth and mapping yield. A considerable amount of farmland is dispersed with strong spatial heterogeneity. The existing time series satellite LAI products fail to capture spatial distributions and growth changes of crops due to coarse spatial resolutions and spatio-temporal discontinuities. Therefore, it becomes crucial for fine resolution LAI mapping in time series over crop areas. A two-stage data assimilation scheme was developed for dense time series LAI mapping in this study. A LAI dynamic model was first constructed using multi-year MODIS LAI data. This model coupled with the PROSAIL radiative transfer model, and MOD09A1 reflectance data were used to retrieve temporal LAI profiles at the 500 m resolution with the assistance of the very fast simulated annealing (VFSA) algorithm. Then, the LAI dynamics at the 500 m scale were incorporated as prior information into the Landsat 8 OLI reflectance data for time series LAI mapping at the 30 m resolution. Finally, the spatio-temporal continuities and retrieval accuracies of assimilated LAI values were assessed at the 500 m and 30 m resolutions respectively, using the MODIS LAI product, fine resolution LAI reference map and field measurements. The results indicated that the assimilated the LAI estimations at the 500 m scale effectively eliminated the spatio-temporal discontinuities of the MODIS LAI product and displayed reasonable temporal profiles and spatial integrity of LAI. Moreover, the 30 m resolution LAI retrievals showed more abundant spatial details and reasonable temporal profiles than the counterparts at the 500 m scale. The determination coefficient R2 between the estimated and field LAI values was 0.76 with a root mean square error (RMSE) value of 0.71 at the 30 m scale. The developed method not only improves the spatio-temporal continuities of the LAI at the 500 m scale, but also obtains 30 m resolution LAI maps with fine spatial and temporal consistencies, which can be expected to meet the needs of analysis on crop dynamic changes and yield mapping in fragmented and highly heterogeneous areas.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingbo Liu ◽  
Chunxiang Cao ◽  
Yongfeng Dang ◽  
Xiliang Ni

Forest canopy height is an important parameter for studying biodiversity and the carbon cycle. A variety of techniques for mapping forest height using remote sensing data have been successfully developed in recent years. However, the demands for forest height mapping in practical applications are often not met, due to the lack of corresponding remote sensing data. In such cases, it would be useful to exploit the latest, cheaper datasets and combine them with free datasets for the mapping of forest canopy height. In this study, we proposed a method that combined ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3) stereo images, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission global 1 arc second data (SRTMGL1), and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) surface reflectance data. The method consisted of three procedures: First, we extracted a digital surface model (DSM) from the ZY-3, using photogrammetry methods and subtracted the SRTMGL1 to obtain a crude canopy height model (CHM). Second, we refined the crude CHM and correlated it with the topographically corrected Landsat 8 surface reflectance data, the vegetation indices, and the forest types through a Random Forest model. Third, we extrapolated the model to the entire study area covered by the Landsat data, and obtained a wall-to-wall forest canopy height product with 30 m × 30 m spatial resolution. The performance of the model was evaluated by the Random Forest’s out-of-bag estimation, which yielded a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.53 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 3.28 m. We validated the predicted forest canopy height using the mean forest height measured in the field survey plots. The validation result showed an R2 of 0.62 and a RMSE of 2.64 m.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 2597
Author(s):  
Cibele Teixeira Pinto ◽  
Xin Jing ◽  
Larry Leigh

Landsat Level-1 products are delivered as quantized and calibrated scaled Digital Numbers (DN). The Level-1 DN data can be rescaled to Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) reflectance applying radiometric rescaling coefficients. Currently, the Level-1 product is the standard data product of the Landsat sensors. The more recent Level-2 data products contain surface reflectance values, i.e., reflectance as it would be measured at ground level in the absence of atmospheric effects; in the near future, these products are anticipated to become the standard products of the Landsat sensors. The purpose of this paper is to present a radiometric performance evaluation of Level-1 and Level-2 data products for the Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensors. TOA reflectance and derived surface reflectance values from both data products were evaluated and compared to in situ measurements from eight test sites located in Turkey, Brazil, Chile, the United States, France, and Namibia. The results indicate an agreement between the ETM+ and OLI Level-1 TOA reflectance data and the in situ measurements of 3.9% to 6.5% and 3.9% to 6.0%, respectively, across all spectral bands. Agreement between the in situ measurements and both Level-2 surface reflectance data products were consistently decreased in the shorter wavelength bands, and slightly better in the longer wavelength bands. The mean percent absolute error for Level-2 surface reflectance data ranged from 3.3% to 10% for both Landsat sensors. The significant decay in agreement with the data collected in situ in the short wavelength spectral bands with Level-2 data suggests issues with retrieval of aerosol concentration at some sites. In contrast, the results indicate a reasonably accurate estimate of water vapor in the mid-infrared spectrum. Lastly, despite the less reliable performance of Level-2 data product in the visible spectral region (compared with Level-1 data) in both sensors, the Landsat-8 OLI Level-2 showed an improvement of surface reflectance product over all spectral bands in common with the Landsat-7 ETM+ Level-2 data.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 275-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiwei Fan ◽  
Gaozhong Nie ◽  
Yan Deng ◽  
Jiwen An ◽  
Junxue Zhou ◽  
...  

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Blinn ◽  
Matthew House ◽  
Randolph Wynne ◽  
Valerie Thomas ◽  
Thomas Fox ◽  
...  

Leaf area index (LAI) is an important biophysical parameter used to monitor, model, and manage loblolly pine plantations across the southeastern United States. Landsat provides forest scientists and managers the ability to obtain accurate and timely LAI estimates. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between loblolly pine LAI measured in situ (at both leaf area minimum and maximum through two growing seasons at two geographically disparate study areas) and vegetation indices calculated using data from Landsat 7 (ETM+) and Landsat 8 (OLI). Sub-objectives included examination of the impact of georegistration accuracy, comparison of top-of-atmosphere and surface reflectance, development of a new empirical model for the species and region, and comparison of the new empirical model with the current operational standard. Permanent plots for the collection of ground LAI measurements were established at two locations near Appomattox, Virginia and Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Each plot is thirty by thirty meters in size and is located at least thirty meters from a stand boundary. Plot LAI measurements were collected twice a year using the LI-COR LAI-2200 Plant Canopy Analyzer. Ground measurements were used as dependent variables in ordinary least squares regressions with ETM+ and OLI-derived vegetation indices. We conclude that accurately-located ground LAI estimates at minimum and maximum LAI in loblolly pine stands can be combined and modeled with Landsat-derived vegetation indices using surface reflectance, particularly simple ratio (SR) and normalized difference moisture index (NDMI), across sites and sensors. The best resulting model (LAI = −0.00212 + 0.3329SR) appears not to saturate through an LAI of 5 and is an improvement over the current operational standard for loblolly pine monitoring, modeling, and management in this ecologically and economically important region.


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