Comparison of the Landsat Surface Reflectance Climate Data Record (CDR) and manually atmospherically corrected data in a semi-arid European study area

This study contributes to the quality assessment of atmospherically corrected Landsat surface reflectance data that are routinely generated by the Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive Processing System (LEDAPS). This dataset, named Landsat Surface Reflectance Climate Data Record (Landsat CDR), is available at global scale and offers unprecedented opportunities to land monitoring and management services that require atmospherically corrected Earth observation (EO) data. Our assessment is based on the comparison of the Landsat CDR data against a set of Landsat and DEIMOS-1 images processed to a high degree of accuracy using an industry-standard atmospheric correction algorithm (ATCOR-2). The software package has been used for many years and its correction procedures can be considered consolidated and well-established. The dataset of Landsat and DEIMOS-1 images was acquired over a semi-arid agricultural area located in Lower Austria and was independently corrected by using a manual fine-tuning of ATCOR-2 parameters to reach the highest possible accuracy. Results show a very good correspondence of the surface reflectance in each of the six reflective spectral channels as well as for the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index). An additional comparison against a NDVI time series from MODIS revealed also a good correspondence. Coefficients of determination (R²) between the two multi-year and multi-seasonal Landsat/DEIMOS datasets range between 0.91 (blue band) and 0.98 (nIR, SWIR-1 and SWIR-2). The results obtained for our semi-arid test site in Austria confirm previous findings and suggest that automatic atmospheric procedures, such as the one implemented by LEDAPS are accurate enough to be used in land monitoring services that require consistent multi-temporal surface reflectance data.     

Development of an image based integrated method for determining and mapping aerosol optical thickness (AOT) over urban areas using the darkest pixel atmospheric correction method,RT equation and GIS: A case study of the Limassol area in Cyprus

This paper presents the development of an image-based integrated method for determining and mapping aerosol optical thickness (AOT). Using the radiative transfer (RT) equation, a methodology was developed to create a Geographical Information System (GIS) model that can visually display the AOT distribution over urban areas. In this paper, the model was applied to eleven Landsat Thematic Mapper/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (TM/ETM+) satellite images of Limassol, Cyprus during 2010 and 2011 to determine the AOT levels in Limassol Cyprus during satellite overpass. The study is innovative and unique in that the RT equation, satellite images, the darkest pixel (DP) method of atmospheric correction and GIS were integrated to derive AOT from satellite images and display the AOT distribution over an urban area without the input of any meteorological or atmospheric parameters. The accuracy of the algorithm was verified through statistical analysis by the strong agreement between the AOT values derived using the algorithm and the in situ AOT values from the ground-based sensors.     

Discharge and suspended sediment flux estimated along the mainstream of the Amazon and the Madeira Rivers (from in situ and MODIS Satellite Data)

Water and suspended sediment fluxes are considered during the period 2000–2008 in a region including the full Amazon River from the confluence of the Negro River to Santarém, the end part of the Solimões River, and the lower part of the Madeira River. Three types of data are used: water discharge estimated from field measurements, and suspended sediment obtained from field measurements and derived from MODIS satellite data. A generalized least square method including a propagating term is developed in order to propagate the signal upward and downward the river. The approach is introduced and tested. Several experiments are considered in order, first, to estimate the ability to propagate the signal from stations located before the confluences of Negro and Madeira Rivers to stations located on the Amazon River; second to investigate the possibility to propagate the signal along the Amazon River which dynamics is coupled with floodplains dynamics; and third to produce optimal solutions of water and sediment fluxes. For each experiment, the influence of field and satellite data is compared. The approach is efficient in the upper part of the region of study where the Solimões, the Negro and the Madeira Rivers meet and fails in the lower part of the region where interactions between Amazon River and floodplains play an important role on the fluxes’ dynamics. The optimal experiment includes in situ and satellite data from all the stations available and is used to analyse the recent evolution of suspended sediment flux along the Amazon River and its interaction with the large coupled floodplains. A high accumulation rate is observed during the 2000–2002 period, followed by decreasing rates until 2005 and by increasing values in 2006 and 2007. Our results suggest that floodplains extending along a river reach of 390 km-long between Itacoatiara and Óbidos trap about 15% of the suspended sediment flux passing at Óbidos. The simulated deposition rate is of about 0.3 Mt km⁻¹ yr⁻¹ corresponding to an accretion rate of about 27 mm yr⁻¹.     

Evaluating and comparing Sentinel 2A and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) spectral indices for estimating fire severity in a Mediterranean pine ecosystem of Greece

The main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between three field-based fire severity indices (Composite Burn Index-CBI, Geometrically structure CBI, weighted CBI) and spectral indices derived from Sentinel 2A and Landsat-8 OLI imagery on a recent large fire in Thasos, Greece. We employed remotely sensed indices previously used from the remote sensing fire community (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR), differenced NDVI, differenced NBR, relative differenced NBR, Relativized Burn Ratio) and seven Sentinel 2A-specific indices considering the availability of spectral information recorded in the red-edge spectral region. The statistical correlation indicated a slightly stronger relationship between the differenced NBR and the GeoCBI for both Sentinel 2A (r = 0.872) and Landsat-8 OLI (r = 0.845) imagery. Predictive local thresholds of dNBR values showed slightly higher classification accuracy for Sentinel 2A (73.33%) than Landsat-8 OLI (71.11%), suggesting the adequacy of Sentinel 2A for forest fire severity assessment and mapping in Mediterranean pine ecosystems. The evaluation of the classification thresholds calculated in this study over other fires with similar pre-fire conditions could contribute in the operational mapping and reconstruction of the historical patterns of fire severity over the Eastern Mediterranean region.