The Network for Calibration and Validation in Earth Observation (NCAVEO) 2006 field campaign

This paper describes a remote sensing field campaign undertaken by the Network for Calibration and Validation in Earth Observation (NCAVEO) in southern England in June 2006. The aims of the campaign were: (a) to gain experience in the collection and use of field data to validate radiance and reflectance products from airborne and satellite sensors; (b) to share best practice on the validation of leaf-area index (LAI) estimates derived from satellite sensor data; and (c) to assemble a quality controlled, multi-scale, multi-sensor data set for algorithm development and testing. Data specifically to support the campaign experiments were acquired by CHRIS/Proba, SPOT and three satellites in the DMC constellation. Three aircraft fitted with hyperspectral sensors, LiDAR and high performance digital survey cameras were flown over the test area. Several field teams made measurements on the ground, and many data sets were acquired near-simultaneously so as to allow direct inter-comparison. The data may be accessed via the NERC EO Data Centre and potential uses are many and varied, including research, education and training on the physical basis of remote sensing (e.g. sensor and instrument calibration); image understanding (e.g. up- and down-scaling); and remote sensing applications (e.g. land cover mapping, forest survey, river habitat survey, LAI estimation, policy-related issues)

Estimating spectral irradiance from measurements in seven spectral bands

Accurate measurement and characterisation of fluctuations in the irradiance environment is important for many areas of optical remote sensing. This paper reports a method of estimating spectral irradiance over the VNIR region (400 - 1100nm) from the radiance of a calibrated reference panel, measured in seven narrow (10nm) spectral bands. Earlier work established the potential for estimating spectral irradiance from multi-band data using a neural network technique (Milton et al., 2000). The approach described here uses linear regression analysis to regenerate the irradiance spectrum from data in seven reference wavelengths. The method was tested using data from a specially designed multiband radiometer – the INdependent SPectral IRradiance Estimator (INSPIRE). The irradiance spectrum was partitioned into a number of distinct regions within each of which the spectral irradiance was estimated from irradiance measured at one of the reference wavelengths. The precision of the method was found to be better than ±5% over most wavelengths from 400nm to 1100nm. Furthermore, the slope coefficients of the individual regression models were found to be sensitive to the sky radiance conditions, especially over the region 600-760nm, and improvement in the precision of the predicted spectrum (to within ±3%) was obtained by taking the diffuse-to-global (D:G) irradiance ratio at the time of measurement into account

Estimating the irradiance spectrum from measurements in a limited number of spectral bands

Accurate measurement and characterisation of fluctuations in the irradiance environment is important for many areas of optical remote sensing. This paper describes a method of estimating spectral irradiance over the region 400 – 1000 nm from the radiance of a calibrated reference panel, measured in four narrow spectral bands (FWHM approx.10 nm). The reproducibility of the method was found to have an average root mean squared error of approximately 30 mWm-2nm-1 over the region 400 nm to 1000 nm when applied to spectra covering a range of clear sky conditions typical of mid-latitude temperate regions

A novel scene-recording spectroradiometer

In this paper we describe an innovative approach to providing both a synthesised dual-beam capability and a permanent photographic record of the precise area sensed by a spectroradiometer. These advances have been achieved without modifying the spectroradiometer and may be used with a wide range of commercially-available spectroradiometers

The temporal dynamics of calibration target reflectance

A field experiment investigated the hypothesis that the nadir reflectance of calibration surface substrates (asphalt and concrete) remains stable over a range of time-scales. Measurable differences in spectral reflectance factors were found over periods as short as 30 minutes. Surface reflectance factors measured using a dual-field-of-view GER1500 spectroradiometer system showed a relationship with the relative proportion of diffuse irradiance, over periods when solar zenith changes were minimal. Reflectance measurements were collected over precise points on the calibration surfaces using a novel mobile spectroradiometer device, and uncertainty in terms of absolute reflectance was calculated as being < 0.05% within the usable range of the instrument (400-1000nm). Multi-date reflectance factors were compared using one-way ANOVA and found to differ significantly (p = 0.001). These findings illustrate the anisotropic nature of calibration surfaces, and place emphasis on the need to minimise the temporal delay in collection of field spectral measurements for vicarious calibration or empirical atmospheric correction purposes

A model-based approach to correcting spectral irradiance data using an upward-looking airborne sensor (CASI ILS)

A number of aircraft sensors have the facility to measure spectral downwelling irradiance using a sensor mounted on the roof of the aircraft, but these data are rarely used for atmospheric correction. Part of the problem is that the attitude of the airborne platform is always changing during flight, even in stable conditions, so that direct use of data from an incident light sensor (ILS) can introduce errors into atmospheric correction methods. The continual motion of the ILS is used here to advantage, as a means to fit a sky radiance distribution model developed by Brunger and Hooper (1993) to data from the Itres Instruments CASI ILS. The inclination of the ILS sensor, due to changing aircraft attitude, is considered as the slope plane in the model. The selected model coefficients correspond to parameterised atmospheric conditions and represent atmospheric transmission and the proportion of direct:diffuse flux. The method was used to correct CASI ILS data acquired over a site in southern England. Comparison with spectral irradiance measured simultaneously on the ground shows that the method reduced the variability of the ILS data and also compensated for the effect of different flight directions. The sky radiance distribution at sensor level is also calculated by the model, and shows the characteristics of the sky conditions at the time of each flight

Retrieval of at-sensor irradiance using Incident Light Sensor (ILS)

A number of aircraft sensors have the facility to measure spectral downwelling irradiance using a sensor mounted on the roof of the aircraft, but these data are rarely used for atmospheric correction. Part of the problem is that the attitude of the airborne platform is always changing during flight, even in stable conditions, so that direct use of data from an incident light sensor (ILS) can introduce errors into atmospheric correction methods. The continual motion of the ILS is used here to advantage, as a means to fit a sky radiance distribution model developed by Brunger and Hooper (1993) to data from the Itres Instruments CASI ILS. The inclination of the ILS sensor, due to changing aircraft attitude, is considered as the slope plane in the model. The selected model coefficients correspond to parameterised atmospheric conditions, i.e. clearness index and diffuse ratio. The ILS data corrected by the model are wellmatched to variations of irradiance measured at ground level during three flights. The radiance distribution at sensor level is also calculated by the model, and shows the characteristics of the sky conditions at the time of each flight

A new dual-beam technique for precise measurements of spectral reflectance in the field

Field spectral measurements made using the single - beam method often include errors due to variation in illumination between measurement of the target and the reference (panel or cosine -corrected receptor). Although the dual-beam method avoids these errors, it introduces greater complexity due to the need to intercalibrate the two sensor heads used, and it is significantly more expensive. This paper describes an alternative dual-beam method which uses a neural network to estimate the complete irradiance spectrum from measurements made in 7 narrow bands. These narrow band measurements of irradiance may be made with a simple filter-based radiometer, thus avoiding the expense and complexity of a second spectroradiometer. The new technique has been tested using irradiance spectra from both continental and maritime locations