0000000000133455
AUTHOR
Wouter Verhoef
Very high spectral resolution imaging spectroscopy: The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) mission
The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) mission has been recently selected as the 8th Earth Explorer by the European Space Agency (ESA). It will be the first mission specifically designed to measure from space vegetation fluorescence emission, by making use of very high spectral resolution imaging spectroscopy techniques. Vegetation fluorescence is the best proxy to actual vegetation photosynthesis which can be measurable from space, allowing an improved quantification of vegetation carbon assimilation and vegetation stress conditions, thus having key relevance for global mapping of ecosystems dynamics and aspects related with agricultural production and food security. The FLEX mission carries the…
Performance of Spectral Fitting Methods for vegetation fluorescence quantification
The Fraunhofer Line Discriminator (FLD) principle has long been considered as the reference method to quantify solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (F) from passive remote sensing measurements. Recently, alternative retrieval algorithms based on the spectral fitting of hyperspectral radiance observations, Spectral Fitting Methods (SFMs), have been proposed. The aim of this manuscript is to investigate the performance of such algorithms and to provide relevant information regarding their use. FLD and SFMs were used to estimate F starting from Top Of Canopy (TOC) fluxes at very high spectral resolution (0.12 nm) and sampling interval (0.1 nm), exploiting the O2-B (687.0 nm) and O2-A (760.6 …
FluorMODgui V3.0 : a graphic user interface for the spectral simulation of leaf and canopy chlorophyll fluorescence
The FluorMODgui Graphic User Interface (GUI) software package developed within the frame of the FluorMOD project Development of a Vegetation Fluorescence Canopy Model is presented in this manuscript. The FluorMOD project was launched in 2002 by the European Space Agency (ESA) to advance the science of vegetation fluorescence simulation through the development and integration of leaf and canopy fluorescence models based on physical methods. The design of airborne or space missions dedicated to the measurement of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence using remote-sensing instruments require physical methods for quantitative feasibility analysis and sensor specification studies. The FluorMODg…
Retrieval of sun-induced fluorescence using advanced spectral fitting methods
Abstract The FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) satellite mission, candidate of ESA's 8th Earth Explorer program, is explicitly optimized for detecting the sun-induced fluorescence emitted by plants. It will allow consistent measurements around the O2-B (687 nm) and O2-A (760 nm) bands, related to the red and far-red fluorescence emission peaks respectively, the photochemical reflectance index, and the structural-chemical state variables of the canopy. The sun-induced fluorescence signal, overlapped to the surface reflected radiance, can be accurately retrieved by employing the powerful spectral fitting technique. In this framework, a set of fluorescence retrieval algorithms optimized for FLEX ar…
Remote sensing of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence at different scales
In this contribution we present activities and selected results obtained in recent studies and campaigns conducted in the context of the FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) mission. FLEX is a candidate mission for the ESA 8th Earth Explorer and large efforts are currently dedicated to the development of an implementation scheme for an accurate mapping of fluorescence from the selected spaceborne sensor and mission configuration. Field and airborne data collected in different experimental campaigns, together with simulated data, have been used to demonstrate the feasibility of fluorescence retrievals and the potential of exploiting high spatial resolution fluorescence maps for a better understandin…
Remote sensing of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) in vegetation: 50 years of progress
Remote sensing of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is a rapidly advancing front in terrestrial vegetation science, with emerging capability in space-based methodologies and diverse application prospects. Although remote sensing of SIF – especially from space – is seen as a contemporary new specialty for terrestrial plants, it is founded upon a multi-decadal history of research, applications, and sensor developments in active and passive sensing of chlorophyll fluorescence. Current technical capabilities allow SIF to be measured across a range of biological, spatial, and temporal scales. As an optical signal, SIF may be assessed remotely using high-resolution spectral sensors in …