Determination of in-flight AVIRIS spectral, radiometric, spatial and signal-to-noise characteristics using atmospheric and surface measurements from the vicinity of the rare-earth-bearing carbonatite at Mountain Pass, California

An assessment of the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) performance was made for a flight over Mountain Pass, California, July 30, 1987. The flight data were reduced to reflectance using an empirical algorithm which compensates for solar, atmospheric and instrument factors. AVIRIS data in conjunction with surface and atmospheric measurements acquired concurrently were used to develop an improved spectral calibration. An accurate in-flight radiometric calibration was also performed using the LOWTRAN 7 radiative transfer code together with measured surface reflectance and atmospheric optical depths. A direct comparison with coincident Thematic Mapper imagery of Mountain Pass was used to demonstrate the high spatial resolution and good geometric performance of AVIRIS. The in-flight instrument noise was independently determined with two methods which showed good agreement. A signal-to-noise ratio was calculated using data from a uniform playa. This ratio was scaled to the AVIRIS reference radiance model, which provided a basis for comparison with laboratory and other in-flight signal-to-noise determinations

Movement of water vapor in the atmosphere measured by an imaging spectrometer at Rogers Dry Lake, CA

Movement of water as vapor in the atmosphere is a fundamental process in the Earth's hydrological cycle. Investigations of spatial and time scales of water vapor transport in the atmosphere are important areas of research. Water vapor transmits energy as a function of its abundance across the spectrum. This is shown in the 400- to 2500-nm spectral region where the transmission of the terrestrial atmosphere has been modeled using the MODTRAN radiative transfer code for a range of water vapor abundances. Based on these model results, spectra measured by the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) have been used to investigate the movement of water vapor at 20-m spatial resolution over an 11-by-30-km area at approximately 15-minute time intervals (1.25 hours total). AVIRIS measures the upwelling spectral radiance from 400 to 2500 nm at 10-nm spectral intervals and collects images of 11-by-up-to-1000 km at 20-m spatial resolution. Data are collected at a rate of 1 km of flight line per 4.5 seconds. A set of five AVIRIS flight lines was acquired in rapid succession over Rogers Dry Lake, CA on May 18, 1993 at 18:59, 19:13, 19:29, 19:47, and 19:59 UTC. Rogers Dry lake is located 2 hours north of Los Angeles, CA at 34.84 degrees north latitude and 117.83 degrees west longitude in the Mojave Desert

Comparison of laboratory calibrations of the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) at the beginning and end of the first flight season

Spectral and radiometric calibrations of the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) were performed in the laboratory in June and November, 1987, at the beginning and end of the first flight season. Those calibrations are described along with changes in instrument characteristics that occurred during the flight season as a result of factors such as detachment of the optical fibers to two of the four AVIRIS spectrometers, degradation in the optical alignment of the spectrometers due to thermally-induced and mechanical warpage, and breakage of a thermal blocking filter in one of the spectrometers. These factors caused loss of signal in three spectrometers, loss of spectral resolution in two spectrometers, and added uncertainty in the radiometry of AVIRIS. Results from in-flight assessment of the laboratory calibrations are presented. A discussion is presented of improvements made to the instrument since the end of the first flight season and plans for the future. Improvements include: (1) a new thermal control system for stabilizing spectrometer temperatures, (2) kinematic mounting of the spectrometers to the instrument rack, and (3) new epoxy for attaching the optical fibers inside their mounting tubes

Application of a two-stream radiative transfer model for leaf lignin and cellulose concentrations from spectral reflectance measurements, part 1

Lignin and nitrogen contents of leaves constitute the primary rate-limiting parameters for the decomposition of forest litter, and are determinants of nutrient- and carbon-cyclic rates in forest ecosystems (Melillo et al., 1982). Wessman et al. (1988a) developed empirical multivariate relationships between forest canopy lignin amount and the (first-difference) AIS spectral response in three bands spread over the wavelength interval 1256-1555 nm. Wessman et al. (1988b) and McLellan et al. (1991) developed similar regression relationships from laboratory reflectance measurements on dried samples prepared in a standard fashion. They used four to six infrared bands for analysis of nitrogen, lignin and cellulose content of foliage in forest and prairie species. In the present article (Parts 1 and 2) the feasibility of compositional determinations is explored using positions of composite absorption bands that originate from mixtures of lignin, cellulose, and possibly other chemical constituents in the spectral reflectance of green leaves. To carry out this program, we employ full-spectral-resolution single-leaf diffuse reflectance measurements made with a laboratory spectrometer and integrating sphere. The leaf and other chemical reflectance data compiled by Elvidge (1990) have also been utilized extensively

Estimation of aerosol optical depth and additional atmospheric parameters for the calculation of apparent reflectance from radiance measured by the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer

The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) measures spatial images of the total upwelling spectral radiance from 400 to 2500 nm through 10 nm spectral channels. Quantitative research and application objectives for surface investigations require inversion of the measured radiance of surface reflectance or surface leaving radiance. To calculate apparent surface reflectance, estimates of atmospheric water vapor abundance, cirrus cloud effects, surface pressure elevation, and aerosol optical depth are required. Algorithms for the estimation of these atmospheric parameters from the AVIRIS data themselves are described. From these atmospheric parameters we show an example of the calculation of apparent surface reflectance from the AVIRIS-measured radiance using a radiative transfer code

Measurement of atmospheric water vapor, leaf liquid water and reflectance with AVIRIS in the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: Initial results

The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) acquired data as part of the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) in 1994. Flights occurred over the northern study area (NSA) in the region of 56 degrees north latitude and 98.5 degrees west longitude and over the southern study area (SSA) at 54 degrees north latitude and 105 degrees west longitude. These data will be used to directly derive spectral properties of the surface and atmosphere and to provide supporting data for other instruments, models, and experiments in support of the BOREAS objectives. We present a preliminary evaluation of the AVIRIS data collected in BOREAS in terms of the AVIRIS-derived parameters: water vapor, leaf water, and apparent spectral reflectance

Use of the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer to calibrate the optical sensor on board the Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1

We describe an experiment to calibrate the optical sensor (OPS) on board the Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1 with data acquired by the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS). On 27 Aug. 1992 both the OPS and AVIRIS acquired data concurrently over a calibration target on the surface of Rogers Dry Lake, California. The high spectral resolution measurements of AVIRIS have been convolved to the spectral response curves of the OPS. These data in conjunction with the corresponding OPS digitized numbers have been used to generate the radiometric calibration coefficients for the eight OPS bands. This experiment establishes the suitability of AVIRIS for the calibration of spaceborne sensors in the 400 to 2500 nm spectral region

Empirical relationships among atmospheric variables from rawinsonde and field data as surrogates for AVIRIS measurements: Estimation of regional land surface evapotranspiration

Empirical relationships between variables are ways of securing estimates of quantities difficult to measure by remote sensing methods. The use of empirical functions was explored between: (1) atmospheric column moisture abundance W (gm H2O/cm(sup 2) and surface absolute water vapor density rho(q-bar) (gm H2O/cm(sup 3), with rho density of moist air (gm/cm(sup 3), q-bar specific humidity (gm H2O/gm moist air), and (2) column abundance and surface moisture flux E (gm H2O/(cm(sup 2)sec)) to infer regional evapotranspiration from Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometers (AVIRIS) water vapor mapping data. AVIRIS provides, via analysis of atmospheric water absorption features, estimates of column moisture abundance at very high mapping rate (at approximately 100 km(sup 2)/40 sec) over large areas at 20 m ground resolution

In-flight radiometric calibration of AVIRIS in 1994

The AVIRIS sensor must be calibrated at the time it measures spectra from the ER-2 airborne platform in order to achieve research and application objectives that are both quantitative and physically based. However, the operational environment inside the Q-bay of the ER-2 at 20 km altitude differs from that in the AVIRIS laboratory with respect to temperature, pressure, vibration, and high-frequency electromagnetic fields. Experiments at surface calibration targets are used in each flight season to confirm the accuracy of AVIRIS in-flight radiometric calibrations. For these experiments, the MODTRAN radiative transfer code is constrained by using in situ measurements to independently predict the upwelling spectral radiance arriving at AVIRIS for a specific calibration target. AVIRIS calibration is validated in flight by comparing the MODTRAN-predicted radiance to the laboratory-calibrated radiance measured by the AVIRIS sensor for the same time over the calibration target. We present radiometric calibration results for the AVIRIS in-flight calibration experiment held at the beginning of the 1994 flight season

Inflight calibration of AVIRIS in 1992 and 1993

In order to pursue the quantitative research objective of AVIRIS, the spectral, radiometric characteristic of the sensor must be known at the time of flight data acquisition. AVIRIS is rigorously calibrated in the laboratory. In addition, three times each year these characteristics of AVIRIS are validated through an inflight calibration experiment. Absolute radiometric calibration and signal-to-noise results are present for the inflight calibration experiment orchestrated in 1992 and 1993