0000000000024528
AUTHOR
Carolina Tenjo
FLEX End-to-End Mission Performance Simulator
The FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) mission, selected as the European Space Agency's eighth Earth Explorer, aims to globally measure the sun-induced-chlorophyll-fluorescence spectral emission from terrestrial vegetation. In the frame of the FLEX mission, several industrial and scientific studies have analyzed the instrument design, image processing algorithms, or modeling aspects. At the same time, a common tool is needed to address the overall FLEX mission performance by combining all these features. For this reason, an end-to-end mission performance simulator has been developed for the FLEX mission (FLEX-E). This paper describes the FLEX-E software design, which combines the generation of co…
Calibration and Validation of Algorithms for the Estimation of Chlorophyll-A in Inland Waters with Sentinel-2
The Ocean Color 2 (OC2), Ocean Color 3 (OC3) and Dall'Olmo three-band (TBDO) algorithms used for the estimation of the chlorophyll-a concentration [Chl-a] have been calibrated and validated for Sentinel-2 spectral bands. Measurements of in situ chlorophyll-a, radiometry and simulations with HydroLight have been used for this purpose within the Ecological Status of AQuatic Systems Satellites (ESAQS) Project to estimate water quality in aquatic systems in Spain. The results show that Sentinel-2 spectral bands are suitable for studying the chlorophyll-a concentration in inland waters. The TBDO algorithm have been applied to Sentinel-2 images and satisfactory results have been obtained in Albuf…
Towards the quantitative and physically-based interpretation of solar-induced vegetation fluorescence retrieved from global imaging
Due to emerging high spectral resolution, remote sensing techniques and ongoing developments to retrieve the spectrally resolved vegetation fluorescence spectrum from several scales, the light reactions of photosynthesis are receiving a boost of attention for the monitoring of the Earth's carbon balance. Sensor-retrieved vegetation fluorescence (from leaf, tower, airborne or satellite scale) originating from the excited antenna chlorophyll a molecule has become a new quantitative biophysical vegetation parameter retrievable from space using global imaging techniques. However, to retrieve the actual quantum efficiencies, and hence a true photosynthetic status of the observed vegetation, all …
HICO L1 and L2 data processing: Radiometric recalibration, atmospheric correction and retrieval of water quality parameters
The Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) is an imaging spectrometer designed with a very high signal-to-noise ratio to monitor coastal ocean and inland waters. The processing of Top-Of-Atmosphere radiance data down to surface reflectance is fundamental for the retrieval of water quality products. However, the current HICO processing chain does not provide atmospheric corrected data nor higher-level water quality products. This paper describes the algorithms implemented within an HICO data processing chain that includes image pre-processing, atmospheric correction and the retrieval of water quality parameters. The implemented algorithms have been validated over a set of HICO ima…
Comparison of MODIS and Landsat-8 retrievals of Chlorophyll-a and water temperature over Lake Titicaca
Chlorophyll-a concentration ([Chl-a]) and Lake Surface Temperature (LST) were retrieved in Lake Titicaca (Peru-Bolivia) using MODIS and Landsat-8 images. The lake was chosen as a case-study for evaluating the feasibility of Landsat-8 images for [Chl-a] and LST monitoring in oligotrophic and mesotrophic water bodies. The big size of the lake and its spatial and temporal variability, allowed the comparison of MODIS and Landsat-8 products for a wide range of [Chl-a] and LST. The atmospheric correction of the images was facilitated by the very high altitude of the lake. MODIS images were processed with standard ocean color algorithms whereas for Landsat-8, specific algorithms were tested and va…
HICO level-2 data processing toolbox for the atmospheric correction and the retrieval of water quality parameters
The Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) is an imaging spectrometer specifically designed to monitor the coastal ocean. The processing of Top-Of-Atmosphere (TOA) radiance data down to surface reflectance is fundamental for the retrieval of water quality products. However, the current HICO processing chain does not provide atmospheric corrected data nor higher-level water quality products. This work describes a toolbox for the atmospheric correction of HICO data and the retrieval of water quality products. The HICO toolbox, consisting on three main modules (image pre-processing, atmospheric correction and retrieval of water quality products), has been used over a set of HICO ima…
Synthetic scene simulator for hyperspectral spaceborne passive optical sensors. Application to ESA's FLEX/sentinel-3 tandem mission
The simulation of synthetic images serve scientists and engineers to study the instrument configuration as well as to develop image processing and retrieval strategies for a sensor in development. Despite synthetic scene simulators have been developed in the past in the frame of satellite missions, their functionality and flexibility to create a user-defined scene is limited by their architecture, design and implementation. This paper introduces the design of a generic scene simulator with the flexibility to generate realistic synthetic scenes by configuration of the surface and atmosphere. Following this generic design, a scene simulator is being developed for the ESA's Earth Explorer 8th …
FLEX/S3 Tandem Mission Performance Assessment: Evolution of the End-to-End Simulator Flex-E
An End-to-end simulator (E2ES) is a tool to evaluate the performance of a satellite mission. Once a mission is approved for operation, E2ES evolves during Phase C/D to become a supporting tool for the development and validation of the ground data processor, as well as for simulating data sets to test the Prototype and Operational Processors. FLEX-E is the E2ES of the FLEX/Sentinel-3 tandem mission, which was selected in 2015 as ESA's eighth Earth Explorer. The FLEX-E evolution implies the consolidation of all the retrieval algorithms (e.g. fluorescence, reflectance, biophysical variables), the implementation of new scientific developments, as well the improvement of the co-registration proc…
Misión FLEX (Fluorescence Explorer): Observación de la fluorescencia por teledetección como nueva técnica de estudio del estado de la vegetación terrestre a escala global
[EN] FLEX (Fluorescence EXplorer) is a candidate for the 8th ESA’s Earth Explorer mission. Is the first space mission specifically designed for the estimation of vegetation fluorescence on a global scale. The mission is proposed to fly in tandem with the future ESA´s Sentinel-3 satellite. It is foreseen that the information obtained by Sentinel-3 will be supplemented with that provided by FLORIS (Fluorescence Imaging Spectrometer) onboard FLEX. FLORIS will measure the radiance between 500 and 800 nm with a bandwidth between 0.1 nm and 2 nm, providing images with a 150 km swath and 300 m pixel size. This information will allow a detailed monitoring of vegetation dynamics, by improving the me…
Design of a Generic 3-D Scene Generator for Passive Optical Missions and Its Implementation for the ESA’s FLEX/Sentinel-3 Tandem Mission
During the design phase of a satellite mission, end-to-end mission performance simulator (E2ES) tools allow scientists and engineers evaluating the mission concept, consolidating system technical requirements and analyzing the suitability of the implemented technical solutions and data processing algorithms. The generation of synthetic scenes is one of the core parts of an E2ES, providing scenes (ground truth) as would be observed by satellite instruments and used as reference against simulated retrieved mission products. An appropriate generation of the scene also allows assessing the performance of the ground data processing chain replacing real instrument data before the mission is in or…
Chlorophyll content mapping of urban vegetation in the city of Valencia based on the hyperspectral NAOC index
Abstract: Spatially distributed chlorophyll content of urban vegetation provides an important indicator of a plant's health status, which might depend on the habitat quality of the specific urban environment. Recent advances in optical remote sensing led to improved methodologies to monitor vegetation properties. The hyperspectral index NAOC (Normalized Area Over reflectance Curve) is one of these new tools that can be used for mapping chlorophyll content. In this paper we present the work done to quantify vegetation chlorophyll content over the city of Valencia (Spain) based on chlorophyll measurements of four representative tree species: the London plane tree (Platanus x. acerifolia), the…
A sun-induced vegetation fluorescence retrieval method from top of atmosphere radiance for the FLEX/Sentinel-3 TanDEM mission
A new fluorescence retrieval method is proposed to support ESA's 8th Earth Explorer FLuorescence EXplorer/Sentinel-3 (FLEX-S3) candidate tandem mission. FLEX is the first mission specially dedicated to measure the Sun-Induced vegetation chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) strongly related with the vegetation photosynthetic activity. Most hyperspectral fluorescence retrieval algorithms available in the literature are very sensitive to true reflectance modelization and/or they assume the atmospheric status as known. The proposed algorithm delivers the retrieval of full fluorescence spectrum at canopy level by using only Top Of Atmosphere (TOA) radiances from S3 and FLEX as input. Once the spatial …
Modelo empírico para la determinación de clorofila-a en aguas continentales a partir de los futuros Sentinel-2 y 3. Validación con imágenes HICO
[EN] Chlorophyll-a concentration is one of the main indicators of inland waters quality. Using CHRIS/PROBA images and in situ data obtained in four lakes in Colombia and Spain, we obtained empirical models for the estimation of chlorophyll-a concentration, which can be directly applied to future images of MSI Sentinel-2 and OLCI Sentinel-3 sensors. The models, based on spectral band indices, were validated with data from the hyperspectral sensor HICO, onboard of the International Space Station.
A New Algorithm for the Retrieval of Sun Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence of Water Bodies Exploiting the Detailed Spectral Shape of Water-Leaving Radiance
Sun induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SICF) emitted by phytoplankton provides considerable insights into the vital role of the carbon productivity of the earth’s aquatic ecosystems. However, the SICF signal leaving a water body is highly affected by the high spectral variability of its optically active constituents. To disentangle the SICF emission from the water-leaving radiance, a new high spectral resolution retrieval algorithm is presented, which significantly improves the fluorescence line height (FLH) method commonly used so far. The proposed algorithm retrieves the reflectance without SICF contribution by the extrapolation of the reflectance from the adjacent regions. Then, the SICF …