Validation of MSG vegetation products. Part I: Field retrieval of LAI and FVC from hemispherical photographs

摘要

The Satellite Application Facilities on Land Surface Analysis (LSA SAF) is aimed to produce and disseminate geophysical products using data from EUMETSAT satellites such as the geostationary MSG1 and the polar orbiting METOP. One of the main scientific objectives for LSA SAF validation activities is to provide the User Community with measures of uncertainty for all derived products. In this context, this document is the first of a two-part set which proposes a consistent methodology for the validation of the LSA SAF vegetation products (LAI/FVC/fAPAR) derived from SEVIRI/MSG. The methodology includes (1) an appropriate field data sampling strategy over different test sites, (2) derivation of high-resolution biophysical variable maps over a larger area (approximately the same size as the SPOT4-HRVIR2 multispectral image) along with an associated uncertainty, and (3) up-scaling to medium and coarse (MSG) resolution scales. This paper amis at developing the stage (1) of the methodology at the specific test site of Barrax, an agricultural area in Central Spain (39°3'N, 2°12'W), whereas the part (2) is addressed in a second document (this issue) and the part (3) will be addressed for future tasks. This work includes a detailed description along with an exhaustive analysis of the vegetation product estimates by the hemispherical camera during the SPARC'03 field campaign, which took place in July 2003 at Barrax test site. The hemispherical photographs have proved to provide accurate estimates of biophysical parameters in crop canopies with significant advantages such as the possibility to evaluate the gap fraction in all viewing direction. On the other hand, a test analysis of the (CAN-EYE) software package used for the hemispherical photographs processing was undertaken. This paper also includes the intercomparison with another ground data set collected by the optical instrument LI-COR LAI2000 during the same campaign.