Improved Topographic Normalization for Landsat TM Images by Introducing the MODIS Surface BRDF

Remote Sensing

Yanli Zhang²  Xin Li⁵  Jianguang Wen¹  Qinhuo Liu¹  Guangjian Yan³  Alexander Kokhanovsky⁴ 

[1] State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; E-Mails:;College of Geography and Environment Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China; E-Mail:;State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing, School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; E-Mail:;College of Geography and Environment Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China; E-Mai;Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Gansu Province, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China

关键词: topographic correction;    Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) characteristics;    Ambrals algorithm;    solar radiation;    atmospheric correction;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs70606558

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In rugged terrain, the accuracy of surface reflectance estimations is compromised by atmospheric and topographic effects. We propose a new method to simultaneously eliminate atmospheric and terrain effects in Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images based on a 30 m digital elevation model (DEM) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) atmospheric products. Moreover, we define a normalized factor of a Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) to convert the sloping pixel reflectance into a flat pixel reflectance by using the Ross Thick-Li Sparse BRDF model (Ambrals algorithm) and MODIS BRDF/albedo kernel coefficient products. Sole atmospheric correction and topographic normalization were performed for TM images in the upper stream of the Heihe River Basin. The results show that using MODIS atmospheric products can effectively remove atmospheric effects compared with the Fast Line-of-Sight Atmospheric Analysis of Spectral Hypercubes (FLAASH) model and the Landsat Climate Data Record (CDR). Moreover, superior topographic effect removal can be achieved by considering the surface BRDF when compared with the surface Lambertian assumption of topographic normalization.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.