A Robust Atmospheric Correction Procedure for Determination of Spectral Reflectance of Terrestrial Surfaces from Satellite Spectral Measurements

Abstract

In this work, we propose simple and robust technique for the retrieval of underlying surface spectral reflectance using spaceborne observations. It can be used to process both multispectral moderate resolution satellite data and also multi-zone high spatial resolution data. The technique can work automatically for different types of land surfaces without using huge databases accumulated in advance. The new cloud discrimination and retrieval of the water vapor content in atmosphere procedures are presented. The key point of the proposed atmospheric correction technique is the suggested single-wavelength method for determining the atmospheric aerosol optical thickness without reference to a specific type of underlying surface spectrum. The retrievals of spectral reflectance for various land surfaces with developed technique, performed using computer simulation and experimental data, have demonstrated a high retrieval accuracy.

Keywords

• atmospheric correction
• cloud mask
• water vapor content
• spectral radiance
• surface spectral reflectance
• aerosol optical thickness