Evaluation of the Atmospheric Correction Procedure for the APEXLevel 2/3 Processor

摘要

The Airborne Prism Experiment (APEX) is a hyperspectral instrument built in a Swiss - Belgian collaboration within the ESA-PRODEX program [1 ]. It aims at highest possible accuracy of its delivered surface reflectance image data products. The atmospheric correction of hyperspectral imagery is a critical element of a complete processing chain towards unbiased reflectance and for the creation of higher level products. As the first data of APEX is expected to become available in 2009, an appropriate processing chain for higher level processing needs to be defined and evaluated. Standard products have been identified in all application fields of hyperspectral imaging, i.e., geology, vegetation, cryosphere, limnology and atmosphere. They are being implemented at the APEX science center [2]. The according processing procedures rely on data of well-defined processing states which range from calibrated at-sensor radiance to (bihemispherical) spectral albedo.