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An Empirical Radiometric Intercomparison Methodology Based on Global Simultaneous Nadir Overpasses Applied to Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2

Authors :
Jorge Gil
Juan Fernando Rodrigo
Pablo Salvador
Diego Gómez
Julia Sanz
Jose Luis Casanova
Source :
Remote Sensing, Vol 12, Iss 17, p 2736 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2020.

Abstract

The Simultaneous Nadir Overpass (SNO) method was developed by the NOAA/NESDIS to improve the consistency and quality of climate data acquired by different meteorological satellites. Taking advantage of the reduced impact induced by the Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF), atmospheric effects, illumination and viewing geometries during an SNO, we created a sensor comparison methodology for all spectral targets. The method is illustrated by applying it to the assessment of data acquired by the Landsat 8 (L8), Sentinel-2A (S2A), and Sentinel-2B (S2B) optical sensors. Multiple SNOs were identified and selected without the need for orbit propagators. Then, by locating spatially homogeneous areas, it was possible to assess, for a wide range of Top-of-Atmosphere reflectance values, the relationship between the L8 bands and the corresponding ones of S2A and S2B. The results yield high coefficients of determination for S2 A/B with respect to L8. All are higher than 0.980 for S2A and 0.984 for S2B. If the S2 band 8 (wide near-infrared, NIR) is excluded then the lowest coefficients of determination become 0.997 and 0.999 from S2A and S2B, respectively. This methodology can be complementary to those based on Pseudo-Invariant Calibration Sites (PICS) due to its simplicity, highly correlated results and the wide range of compared reflectances and spectral targets.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20724292
Volume :
12
Issue :
17
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Remote Sensing
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.682cb87d46974b1183f1ad36a1744c30
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12172736