Estimating global land surface broadband thermal-infrared emissivity using advanced very high resolution radiometer optical data

An algorithm for retrieving global eight-day 5 km broadband emissivity (BBE) from advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) visible and near-infrared data from 1981 through 1999 was presented. Land surface was divided into three types according to its normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values: bare soil, vegetated area, and transition zone. For each type, BBE at 8–13.5 µm was formulated as a nonlinear function of AVHRR reflectance for Channels 1 and 2. Given difficulties in validating coarse emissivity products with ground measurements, the algorithm was cross-validated by comparing retrieved BBE with BBE derived through different methods. Retrieved BBE was initially compared with BBE derived from moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) albedos. Respective absolute bias and root-mean-square error were less than 0.003 and 0.014 for bare soil, less than 0.002 and 0.011 for transition zones, and ?0.002 and 0.005 for vegetated areas. Retrieved BBE was also compared with BBE obtained through the NDVI threshold method. The proposed algorithm was better than the NDVI threshold method, particularly for bare soil. Finally, retrieved BBE and BBE derived from MODIS data were consistent, as were the two BBE values.     

Is There a Physical Linkage Between Surface Emissive and Reflective Variables Over Non-Vegetated Surfaces?

For a satellite sensor with only one or two thermal infrared channels, it is difficult to retrieve the surface emissivity from the received emissive signal. Empirical linear relationship between surface emissivity and red reflectance are already established for deriving emissivity, but the inner physical mechanism remains unclear. The optical constants of various minerals that cover the spectral range from 0.44 to 13.5 μm in conjunction with modern radiative transfer models were used to produce corresponding surface reflectance and emissivity spectra. Compared to the commonly used empirical linear relationship, a more accurate multiple linear relationship between Landsat TM5 emissivity and optical reflectances was derived using the simulated data, which indicated the necessity of replacing the empirical relationship with the new one for improving surface emissivity estimate in the single channel algorithm. The significant multiple linear relationship between broadband emissivity (BBE, 8–13.5 μm) and MODIS spectral albedos was also derived using the same data. This paper demonstrates that there is a physical linkage between surface emissive and reflective variables, and provides a theoretical perspective on estimating surface emissivity for sensors with only one or two thermal infrared channels.     

城市地表温度影像时空融合方法研究

地表温度（land surface temperature,LST）是反映地表能量和水平衡物理过程的一个重要参数,受限于载荷量的限制以及传感器的技术瓶颈,当前的卫星平台均难以获取同时具有较高空间和时间分辨率的遥感地表温度影像,客观上影响了遥感地表温度影像的应用。针对地表异质性较高的城市区域,选取覆盖武汉城区的中分辨率成像光谱仪（Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer,MODIS）和增强型专题绘图仪（Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus,ETM+）数据,结合时空反射率融合模型（enhanced spatial and temporal adaptive reflectance fusion model,ESTARFM）和非线性辐射温度分解算法（non-linear disaggregation procedure for radiometric surface temperature,NL-DisTrad）对地表温度影像进行时空融合研究,最终生成60 m空间分辨率的逐日地表温度融合影像。将融合影像与2002-07-09和2002-10-13的ETM+实际地表温度影像进行融合精度验证分析,其决定系数R2分别为0.80和0.86,均方根误差（root mean square error,RMSE）分别为2.65 K和1.78 K。实验结果表明,所提出的地表温度时空融合模型在城市区域的地表温度时空融合应用中具有潜在的应用前景。     

A Gibbs sampling disaggregation model for orographic precipitation

Hydrological applications in complex topographic areas need high spatial resolution precipitation data. Some daily high-resolution products are now available for recent past data, even in complex terrain. While the spatial resolution of Regional Climate Models (RCMs) and operational meteorological models are becoming increasingly fine, there still exists a mismatch between the spatial resolutions of observed or estimated recent past data and simulated or forecasted precipitation.Statistical disaggregation models can generate precipitation on a high-resolution grid using as input a mesoscale precipitation grid (e.g., RCM or meteorological grid). In this paper, a Gibbs sampling disaggregation model previously developed for flat areas is adapted to account for topography. Only one variable, the topographic anomaly, is added to the original model. The model is applied on a 300 km × 300 km area in the northwestern United States, covering the Olympic Mountains and the Cascade Range. Daily high-resolution precipitation data for the 2002–2005 period are used to estimate the model parameters. Using 750 days taken from the 2006–2008 period, 36, 52-km grid boxes are disaggregated on 4.3-, 8.7-, 13-, 17.3- and 26-km grids; each day being simulated nine times. Thank to the Gibbs sampling algorithm, the original model, which does not account for topography, is able to capture the mesoscale topographic structure of the daily precipitation, while the adapted model accounting for topography is better suited to recreate the local impact of topography on interannual means, interday standard deviation, and maximum values. The model outputs could be used by hydrological modelers who need high-resolution precipitation data in complex topographic area application.     

DisPATCh as a tool to evaluate coarse-scale remotely sensed soil moisture using localized in situ measurements: Application to SMOS and AMSR-E data in Southeastern Australia

Validating coarse-scale satellite soil moisture data still represents a big challenge, notably due to the large mismatch existing between the spatial resolution (> 10 km) of microwave radiometers and the representativeness scale (several m) of localized in situ measurements. This study aims to examine the potential of DisPATCh (Disaggregation based on Physical and Theoretical scale Change) for validating SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) and AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth observation system) level-3 soil moisture products. The ∽40–50 km resolution SMOS and AMSR-E data are disaggregated at 1 km resolution over the Murrumbidgee catchment in Southeastern Australia during a one year period in 2010–2011, and the satellite products are compared with the in situ measurements of 38 stations distributed within the study area. It is found that disaggregation improves the mean difference, correlation coefficient and slope of the linear regression between satellite and in situ data in 77%, 92% and 94% of cases, respectively. Nevertheless, the downscaling efficiency is lower in winter than during the hotter months when DisPATCh performance is optimal. Consistently, better results are obtained in the semi-arid than in a temperate zone of the catchment. In the semi-arid Yanco region, disaggregation in summer increases the correlation coefficient from 0.63 to 0.78 and from 0.42 to 0.71 for SMOS and AMSR-E in morning overpasses and from 0.37 to 0.63 and from 0.47 to 0.73 for SMOS and AMSR-E in afternoon overpasses, respectively. DisPATCh has strong potential in low vegetated semi-arid areas where it can be used as a tool to evaluate coarse-scale remotely sensed soil moisture by explicitly representing the sub-pixel variability.     

A Spatio-Temporal Enhancement Method for medium resolution LAI (STEM-LAI)

Satellite remote sensing has been used successfully to map leaf area index (LAI) across landscapes, but advances are still needed to exploit multi-scale data streams for producing LAI at both high spatial and temporal resolution. A multi-scale Spatio-Temporal Enhancement Method for medium resolution LAI (STEM-LAI) has been developed to generate 4-day time-series of Landsat-scale LAI from existing medium resolution LAI products. STEM-LAI has been designed to meet the demands of applications requiring frequent and spatially explicit information, such as effectively resolving rapidly evolving vegetation dynamics at sub-field (30 m) scales. In this study, STEM-LAI is applied to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) based LAI data and utilizes a reference-based regression tree approach for producing MODIS-consistent, but Landsat-based, LAI. The Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) is used to interpolate the downscaled LAI between Landsat acquisition dates, providing a high spatial and temporal resolution improvement over existing LAI products. STARFM predicts high resolution LAI by blending MODIS and Landsat based information from a common acquisition date, with MODIS data from a prediction date. To demonstrate its capacity to reproduce fine-scale spatial features observed in actual Landsat LAI, the STEM-LAI approach is tested over an agricultural region in Nebraska. The implementation of a 250 m resolution LAI product, derived from MODIS 1 km data and using a scale consistent approach based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), is found to significantly improve accuracies of spatial pattern prediction, with the coefficient of efficiency (E) ranging from 0.77–0.94 compared to 0.01–0.85 when using 1 km LAI inputs alone. Comparisons against an 11-year record of in-situ measured LAI over maize and soybean highlight the utility of STEM-LAI in reproducing observed LAI dynamics (both characterized by r² = 0.86) over a range of plant development stages. Overall, STEM-LAI represents an effective downscaling and temporal enhancement mechanism that predicts in-situ measured LAI better than estimates derived through linear interpolation between Landsat acquisitions. This is particularly true when the in-situ measurement date is greater than 10 days from the nearest Landsat acquisition, with prediction errors reduced by up to 50%. With a streamlined and completely automated processing interface, STEM-LAI represents a flexible tool for LAI disaggregation in space and time that is adaptable to different land cover types, landscape heterogeneities, and cloud cover conditions.     

辐射特征支持下的城市高分影像阴影校正

大量城市建筑使得高分影像中含有许多阴影区。这些阴影区在土地利用分类、植被绿度调查等遥感应用中会较大地影响结果精度,降低数据使用效率并增加研究成本。基于同一地物阴影区与临近非阴影区反射率相等这一辐射特征关系,通过建立辐射传输方程,发展了一种新的城市高分遥感影像阴影校正方法 RERB(Reflectance Equality Relationship Based Method)。利用RERB对不同城市(北京和荷兰Enschede)不同高分多光谱影像(Geo Eye-1和Quick Bird)进行阴影校正,并对比分析其与被广泛采用的均值方差变换法MVT(Mean and Variance Transformation)的校正结果,通过定性和定量精度评价发现:(1)RERB能很好地将城市阴影区影像视觉特征(颜色、纹理、色调等)信息恢复到与非阴影区同一水平上;(2)RERB恢复后的阴影区具有丰富的细节信息且在视觉上与临近非阴影区具有良好的一致性;(3)RERB恢复后的城市柏油路面和水泥路面阴影区辐射信息具有较低的误差,可见光-近红外波段的平均误差分别为7%和9%。同时RERB能较好地恢复城市阴影区植被波谱特征信息。     

Field validation of the GLASS land surface broadband emissivity database using pseudo-invariant sand dune sites in northern China

The land surface broadband emissivity (LSBE) is a key parameter for estimating surface radiation, and there have been many studies of the LSBE at global or local scales. However, few studies have validated the surface emissivity database with multi-point field measurement data using infrared radiometry, especially in China. In this study, we focus on the validation of the emissivity product of the global land surface satellite (GLASS) LSBE database for northern China for the period from 2006 to 2011. Specifically, we have employed an eight-day averaged, gridded emissivity product in the 8–13.5 µm spectral range produced at a spatial resolution of 1000 m from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer albedo product using a new algorithm. The GLASS LSBE database was validated over bare surfaces with field measurement data from sand samples collected at many pseudo-invariant sand dune sites located in western and northwestern China. By comparing measured emissivity for different land surface types at different sites and different times, it was shown that the results were consistent and that the accuracy of the field measurements was reliable. The results of the validation of GLASS LSBE with these field emissivity data showed very good agreement.     

Integrating ASTER and GLASS broadband emissivity products using a multi-resolution Kalman filter

In this study, the multi-resolution Kalman filter (MKF) algorithm, which can handle multi-resolution problems with high computational efficiency, was used to blend two emissivity products: the Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) (BBE) product and the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) narrowband emissivity (NBE) product. The ASTER NBE product was first converted into a BBE product. A new detrending method was used to transfer the BBEs into a process suitable for the MKF. The new detrending method was superior to the two existing methods. Finally, both the de-trended GLASS and ASTER BBE products were incorporated into the MKF framework to obtain the optimal estimation at each scale. Field measurements collected in North America were used to validate the integrated BBEs. Visually, the fusion map showed good continuity, with the exception of the border areas, and the quality of the fusion map was better than that of the original maps. The validation results indicate that the MKF improved the BBE product accuracy at the coarse scale. In addition, the MKF was capable of recovering missing pixels at a finer scale.     

A Doubly Weighted Approach to Urban Data Disaggregation in GIS: A Case Study of Wuhan, China

Urban models are evolving to require more and more detailed data that in many cases have to be spatially disaggregated from larger zones. This paper deals with the disaggregation of statistical data in an urban context in which land use data are available at a less detailed level. With the availability of land use data, the traditional approach of areal weighting is improved with an areal and land use weighted approach. This weighted approach is further elaborated to include homogeneous weight zones (HWZ) so as to reflect general geographical variations among the same land use type. A case study in Wuhan, China has demonstrated the effectiveness of the doubly weighted approach within the specified context.     

结构函数法反演气溶胶光学厚度中像元的间隔设置

结构函数法气溶胶光学厚度反演精度受像元间隔设置影响很大,且并非所有像元都能获得较好的反演结果,因而研究像元间隔的设置能够提高反演精度,研究反演误差小的像元能够提高算法效率。为了获得最佳的像元间隔设置,本文以胶州湾地区为例,利用250 m和500 m两种分辨率数据计算了不同像元间隔时的结构函数值,分别利用单一像元间隔法、均值法、坡高法以及线性区域均值法获得待反演像元最终的结构函数值反演550 nm处的气溶胶光学厚度,并依据CE318观测数据进行精度验证,通过分析点对点反演结果和光学厚度的空间分布,确定反演误差小、受分辨率影响小的像元间隔设置。实验发现线性区域均值法在一定程度上提高了反演精度和稳定性。此外,通过对反演结果可接受像元的地表反射率结构函数值的统计和分析,发现500 m分辨率时可接受像元比例优于250 m,当地表反射率结构函数值大于0.02时反演结果较好,而这些像元往往分布在山麓、山涧、海岸线、河流、城乡结合部等地理要素的突然改变的地区。     

Measures of spatio-temporal accuracy for time series land cover data

Remote sensing is a useful tool for monitoring changes in land cover over time. The accuracy of such time-series analyses has hitherto only been assessed using confusion matrices. The matrix allows global measures of user, producer and overall accuracies to be generated, but lacks consideration of any spatial aspects of accuracy. It is well known that land cover errors are typically spatially auto-correlated and can have a distinct spatial distribution. As yet little work has considered the temporal dimension and investigated the persistence or errors in both geographic and temporal dimensions. Spatio-temporal errors can have a profound impact on both change detection and on environmental monitoring and modelling activities using land cover data. This study investigated methods for describing the spatio-temporal characteristics of classification accuracy. Annual thematic maps were created using a random forest classification of MODIS data over the Jakarta metropolitan areas for the period of 2001–2013. A logistic geographically weighted model was used to estimate annual spatial measures of user, producer and overall accuracies. A principal component analysis was then used to extract summaries of the multi-temporal accuracy. The results showed how the spatial distribution of user and producer accuracy varied over space and time, and overall spatial variance was confirmed by the principal component analysis. The results indicated that areas of homogeneous land cover were mapped with relatively high accuracy and low variability, and areas of mixed land cover with the opposite characteristics. A multi-temporal spatial approach to accuracy is shown to provide more informative measures of accuracy, allowing map producers and users to evaluate time series thematic maps more comprehensively than a standard confusion matrix approach. The need to identify suitable properties for a temporal kernel are discussed.     

Atacama Field Campaign: laboratory and in-situ measurements for remote sensing applications

This work presents the preliminary results of the first field calibration campaign performed in the Atacama Desert, Chile, between the 18 and 22 August 2014, called the Atacama Field Campaign (ATAFIC 2014). In situ measurements were performed in order to spectrally characterize the surface reflectance spectra between 0.3 and 2.5?µm, radiometric temperature (8.0–14.0?µm) and atmospheric measurements. A soil sample was collected and analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction techniques to characterize the surface reflectance spectra and mineralogical composition, respectively. ASTER land surface emissivity in addition to GOES, MODIS and Landsat-8 land surface temperature (LST) were also used. Results showed that the spectral features of the Atacama soil and the characteristics of this geographical zone, which is featured as the most hyper-arid and cloudless place in the world, make this area a potential target for surface reflectance characterization. Day and night LST comparison between field and remote sensing data are lower than 2?K and the Root Mean Square Error for land surface emissivity is close to 2%. This work opens the possibilities to consider the Atacama Desert as a reference target for calibration and validation activities for earth observation missions’ purposes.     

两种高光谱热红外数据大气校正方法的分析与比较

利用模拟数据对Autonomous Atmospheric Compensation(AAC)和In-scene Atmospheric Compensation(ISAC)这两种高光谱热红外数据大气校正方法进行了对比和分析。结果显示,在满足方法适用条件情况下,AAC方法大气校正精度较高,除湿热的热带大气外,大气透过率的反演误差小于0.02,大气上行辐射的误差小于0.004W.m-2.sr-1.cm;而ISAC方法精度较低,透过率误差在0.05至0.3之间,上行辐射误差在0.003W.m-2.sr-1.cm至0.035W.m-2.sr-1.cm之间变化,误差随大气水汽含量增加而增加。大气非均一性对大气校正精度影响分析表明,AAC方法大气校正精度受大气非均一性影响显著。因此,需从高光谱数据光谱信息出发,发展针对低空间分辨率高光谱热红外数据的大气校正方法,以克服现有方法大气水平均一假设的不足。     

Satellite-based analysis of the role of land use/land cover and vegetation density on surface temperature regime of Delhi,India

The knowledge of the surface temperature is important to a range of issues and themes in earth sciences central to urban climatology, global environmental change and human-environment interactions. The study analyses land surface temperature (LST) estimation using temporal ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) datasets (day time and night time) over National Capital Territory Delhi using the surface emissivity information at pixel level. The spatial variations of LST over different land use/land cover (LU/LC) at day time and night time were analysed and relationship between the spatial distribution of LU/LC and vegetation density with LST was developed. Minimum noise fraction (MNF) was used for LU/LC classification which gave better accuracy than classification with original bands. The satellite derived emissivity values were found to be in good agreement with literature and field measured values. It was observed that fallow land, waste land/bare soil, commercial/industrial and high dense built-up area have high surface temperature values during day time, compared to those over water bodies, agricultural cropland, and dense vegetation. During night time high surface temperature values are found over high dense built-up, water bodies, commercial/industrial and low dense built-up than over fallow land, dense vegetation and agricultural cropland. It was found that there is a strong negative correlation between surface temperature and NDVI over dense vegetation, sparse vegetation and low dense built-up area while with fraction vegetation cover, it indicates a moderate negative correlation. The results suggest that the methodology is feasible to estimate NDVI, surface emissivity and surface temperature with reasonable accuracy over heterogeneous urban area. The analysis also indicates that the relationship between the spatial distribution of LU/LC and vegetation density is closely related to the development of urban heat islands (UHI).     

北京地区Landsat 8 OLI高空间分辨率气溶胶光学厚度反演

卫星气溶胶光学厚度(AOD)反演中,传统暗目标方法在反射率较低的水体、浓密植被覆盖区域取得了较好效果,在反射率较高且结构复杂的高反射地表上空目前多采用深蓝算法,但存在空间分辨率较低,对细节分布描述性较差等问题。为解决这一问题,本文首先以5年(2008年—2012年)长时间序列MODIS地表反射率产品为基础,采用最小值合成法建立500 m分辨率逐月地表反射率产品数据集,然后利用地物波谱库中典型地物波谱数据,分析建立MODIS与Landsat 8 OLI传感器蓝光波段反射率转换模型,最后北京地区AERONET地基观测数据确定了气溶胶光学物理参数,并反演获取了北京地区上空500 m分辨率的AOD分布。为验证反演算法的精度,分别将反演结果同AERONET及MODIS/Terra气溶胶产品(MOD04)进行交叉对比,同时利用相关系数R,均方根误差RMSE,平均绝对误差MAE以及MODIS AOD产品预期误差EE共4个指标进行衡量。结果表明:算法反演获取的AOD与AERONET观测值具有较高的一致性,各指标分别为R=0.963,RMSE=0.156,MAE=0.097,EE=85.3%,稍优于MOD04产品(R=0.962,RMSE=0.158,MAE=0.101,EE=75.8%),并且有效的对比点数也高于MOD04。通过与地基观测相比,卫星遥感获取的高分辨率城市地区AOD精度可作为定量评估城市空气质量的有效依据。     

一种拓展的半物理时空融合算法及其初步应用

Landsat 5卫星较低的时间分辨率(16天)使得其很难获得大区域的、时相一致的清晰影像数据集。本文发展了一种基于半物理模型的时空融合算法-即乘性调制融合算法,并借助多时序的MODIS反射率数据来生成多时相的Landsat TM/ETM+反射率合成影像,经镶嵌后得到区域尺度的高时空分辨率地表反射率数据集(Landsat TM/ETM+)。本文利用吉林省2006年—2011年的Landsat 5 TM地表反射率数据以及500 m的MOD09A1反射率产品来生成3个时相的Landsat 5 TM反射率合成数据,从而获得研究区在上述时相下地表反射率数据的镶嵌图。初步分析表明,所生成的Landsat 5 TM反射率数据的光谱分布特征与MOD09A1反射率数据较为一致,且图像在整体上光谱特征的连续性较好。     

基于ASTER GED产品的地表发射率估算

地表发射率是地表温度反演的重要输入参数,为了解决现有地表发射率估算方法在裸露地表精度较差的问题,本文基于最新的ASTER全球地表发射率产品(ASTER GED)和基于植被覆盖度的方法(VCM),提出了一个改进的地表发射率估算方法。首先,利用ASTER GED产品求解裸土发射率,然后,利用ASTER波谱库中的植被发射率和植被覆盖度结合VCM方法计算地表发射率。利用张掖地区2012年11景ASTER TES算法反演的地表发射率产品和实测地表发射率数据进行了验证,同时利用一景Landsat 8 TIRS数据分析了对地表温度反演精度的影响。结果表明该方法估算的地表发射率整体精度较高,可以有效改进裸露地表的发射率估算精度,用于支持利用多种热红外传感器数据生产高精度的地表温度产品。     

结合Gram-Schmidt变换的高光谱影像谐波分析融合算法

针对高光谱影像谐波分析融合(HAF)算法在影像融合时不顾及地物光谱曲线整体反射率这一缺陷,提出了结合Gram-Schmidt变换的高光谱影像谐波分析融合(GSHAF)改进算法。GSHAF算法可在完全保留融合前后像元光谱曲线波形形态的基础上,将高光谱影像融合简化为各像元光谱曲线的谐波余相组成的二维影像与高空间分辨率影像之间的融合。它是在原始高光谱影像光谱曲线被谐波分解为谐波余项、振幅和相位后,首先将其谐波余项与高空间分辨率影像进行GS变换融合,这样便可有效地修正融合后像元光谱曲线的反射率特征,随后再利用该融合影像与谐波振幅、相位进行谐波逆变换,完成高光谱影像谐波融合。本文最后利用Hyperion高光谱遥感影像与ALI高空间分辨率影像对GSHAF算法进行可行性分析,再以HJ-1A等卫星数据对其进行普适性验证,试验结果表明,GSHAF算法不仅可以完全地保留光谱曲线波形形态,而且融合后影像的地物光谱曲线反射率更接近真实地物。     

作物冠层的热红外辐射传输模型

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