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NASA NTRS1993

Measurement of evapotranspiration with combined reflective and thermal infrared radiance observations

The broad goal of the research summarized in this report was 'To facilitate the evaluation of regional evapotranspiration (ET) through the combined use of solar reflective and thermal infrared radiance observations.' The specific objectives stated by Goward and Hope (1986) were to: (1) investigate the nature of the relationship between surface temperature (T(sub S)) and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and develop an understanding of this relationship in terms of energy exchange processes, particularly latent flux heat (LE); (2) develop procedures to estimate large area LE using combined T(sub S) and NDVI observations obtained from AVHRR data; and (3) determine whether measurements derived from satellite observations relate directly to measurements made at the surface or from aircraft platforms. Both empirical and modeling studies were used to develop an understanding of the T(sub S)-NDVI relationship. Most of the modeling was based on the Tergra model as originally proposed by Goward. This model, and modified versions developed in this project, simulates the flows of water and energy in the soil-plant-atmosphere system using meteorological, soil and vegetation inputs. Model outputs are the diurnal course of soil moisture, T(sub S), LE and the other individual components of the surface energy balance.

Hope, Allen S.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Monitoring land use and degradation using satellite and airborne data

In July 1990 AVIRIS and AIRSAR data were collected over the Manix Basin Area of the Mojave Desert to study land degradation in an arid area where centerpivot irrigation had been in use. The Manix Basin is located NE of Barstow, California, along Interstate-15 at 34 deg 57 min N 116 deg 35 min W. This region was covered by a series of lakes during the Late Pleistocence and Early Holocene. Beginning in the 1960's, areas were cleared of the native creosote bush-dominated plant community to be used for agricultural purposes. Starting in 1972 fields have been abandoned due to the increased cost of electricity needed to pump the irrigation water, with some fields abandoned as recently as 1988 and 1992. These circumstances provide a time series of abandoned fields which provide the possibility of studying the processes which act on agricultural fields in arid regions when they are abandoned. Ray et al. reported that polarimetric SAR (AIRSAR) could detect that the concentric circular planting furrows plowed on these fields persists for a few years after abandonment and then disappear over time and that wind ripples which form on these fields over time due to wind erosion can be detected with polarimetric radar. Ray et al. used Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) bandpasses to generate NDVI images of the Manix Basin which showed that the fields abandoned for only a few years had higher NDVI's than the undisturbed desert while the fields abandoned for a longer time had NDVI levels lower than that of the undisturbed desert. The purpose of this study is to use a fusion of a time series of satellite data with airborne data to provide a context for the airborne data. The satellite data time series will additionally help to validate the observation and analysis of time-dependent processes observed in the single AVIRIS image of fields abandoned for different periods of time.

Ray, Terrill W.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Estimation of Forest Canopy Leaf Area Index Using Directional ASAS Measurements

Coniferous forest canopy reflectance was derived from radiance data collected the Advanced Solid-State Array Spectroradiometer (ASAS). Red and Near-InfraRed (NIR) responses were examined as a function of view zenith angle (theta(sub v)), solar zenith angle (theta(sub s)), and site characteristics. Relationships were formulated between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and canopy Leaf Area Index (LAI). It is suggested that the offnadir NDVI is a more stable estimator of LAI than is the nadir-view NDVI.

Johnson, Lee F.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Application of High-Resolution Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing and GIS to Assess the Urban Heat Island Effect

Day and night airborne thermal infrared image data at 5 m spatial resolution acquired with the 15-channel (0.45 micron - 12.2 micron) Advanced Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) over Alabama, Huntsville on 7 September, 1994 were used to study changes in the thermal signatures of urban land cover types between day and night. Thermal channel number 13 (9.6 micron - 10.2 micron) data with the best noise-equivalent temperature change (NEAT) of 0.25 C after atmospheric corrections and temperature calibration were selected for use in this analysis. This research also examined the relation between land cover irradiance and vegetation amount, using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), obtained by ratioing the difference and the sum of the red (channel number 3: 0.60-0.63 micron) and reflected infrared (channel number 6: 0.76-0.90 micron) ATLAS data. Based on the mean radiance values, standard deviations, and NDVI extracted from 351 pairs of polygons of day and night channel number 13 images for the city of Huntsville, a spatial model of warming and cooling characteristics of commercial, residential, agricultural, vegetation, and water features was developed using a GIS approach. There is a strong negative correlation between NDVI and irradiance of residential, agricultural, and vacant/transitional land cover types, indicating that the irradiance of a land cover type is greatly influenced by the amount of vegetation present. The predominance of forests, agricultural, and residential uses associated with varying degrees of tree cover showed great contrasts with commercial and services land cover types in the center of the city, and favors the development of urban heat islands. The high-resolution thermal infrared images match the complexity of the urban environment, and are capable of characterizing accurately the urban land cover types for the spatial modeling of the urban heat island effect using a GIS approach.

Lo, C. P.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Grapevine Remote Sensing Analysis of Phylloxera Early Stress (GRAPES): Remote Sensing Analysis Summary

High spatial resolution airborne imagery was acquired in California's Napa Valley in 1993 and 1994 as part of the Grapevine Remote sensing Analysis of Phylloxera Early Stress (GRAPES) project. Investigators from NASA, the University of California, the California State University, and Robert Mondavi Winery examined the application of airborne digital imaging technology to vineyard management, with emphasis on detecting the phylloxera infestation in California vineyards. Because the root louse causes vine stress that leads to grapevine death in three to five years, the infested areas must be replanted with resistant rootstock. Early detection of infestation and changing cultural practices can compensate for vine damage. Vineyard managers need improved information to decide where and when to replant fields or sections of fields to minimize crop financial losses. Annual relative changes in leaf area due to phylloxera infestation were determined by using information obtained from computing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images. Two other methods of monitoring vineyards through imagery were also investigated: optical sensing of the Red Edge Inflection Point (REIP), and thermal sensing. These did not convey the stress patterns as well as the NDVI imagery and require specialized sensor configurations. NDVI-derived products are recommended for monitoring phylloxera infestations.

Lobitz, Brad↗

NASA NTRS1997

Multi-Scale Fractal Analysis of Image Texture and Pattern

Fractals embody important ideas of self-similarity, in which the spatial behavior or appearance of a system is largely scale-independent. Self-similarity is a property of curves or surfaces where each part is indistinguishable from the whole. The fractal dimension D of remote sensing data yields quantitative insight on the spatial complexity and information content contained within these data. Analyses of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images of homogeneous land covers near Huntsville, Alabama revealed that the fractal dimension of an image of an agricultural land cover indicates greater complexity as pixel size increases, a forested land cover gradually grows smoother, and an urban image remains roughly self-similar over the range of pixel sizes analyzed(l0 to 80 meters). The forested scene behaves as one would expect-larger pixel sizes decrease the complexity of the image as individual clumps of trees are averaged into larger blocks. The increased complexity of the agricultural image with increasing pixel size results from the loss of homogeneous groups of pixels in the large fields to mixed pixels composed of varying combinations of NDVI values that correspond to roads and vegetation. The same process occur's in the urban image to some extent, but the lack of large, homogeneous areas in the high resolution NDVI image means the initially high D value is maintained as pixel size increases. The slope of the fractal dimension-resolution relationship provides indications of how image classification or feature identification will be affected by changes in sensor resolution.

Emerson, Charles W.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Assessment of Anthropogenic and Climatic Impacts on the Global Carbon Cycle Using a 3-D Model Constrained by Isotopic Carbon Measurements and Remote Sensing of Vegetation

Our original proposal called for improved modeling of the terrestrial biospheric carbon cycle, specifically using biome-specific process models to account for both the energy and water budgets of plant growth, to facilitate investigations into recent changes in global atmospheric CO2 abundance and regional distribution. The carbon fluxes predicted by these models were to be incorporated into a global model of CO2 transport to establish large-scale regional fluxes of CO2 to and from the terrestrial biosphere subject to constraints imposed by direct measurements of atmospheric CO2 and its 13C/12C isotopic ratio. Our work was coordinated with a NASA project (NASA NAGW-3151) at the University of Montana under the direction of Steven Running, and was partially funded by the Electric Power Research Institute. The primary objective of this project was to develop and test the Biome-BGC model, a global biological process model with a daily time step which simulates the water, energy and carbon budgets of plant growth. The primary product, the unique global gridded daily land temperature, and the precipitation data set which was used to drive the process model is described. The Biome-BGC model was tested by comparison with a simpler biological model driven by satellite-derived (NDVI) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and (PAR) Photosynthetically Active Radiation data and by comparison with atmospheric CO2 observations. The simple NDVI model is also described. To facilitate the comparison with atmospheric CO2 observations, a three-dimensional atmospheric transport model was used to produce predictions of atmospheric CO2 variations given CO2 fluxes owing to (NPP) Net Primary Productivity and heterotrophic respiration that were produced by the Biome-BGC model and by the NDVI model. The transport model that we used in this project, and errors associated with transport simulations, were characterized by a comparison of 12 transport models.

Keeling, Charles D.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Assimilation of GOES Land Surface Data into a Mesoscale Models

A technique has been developed for assimilating Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-derived skin temperature tendencies and insolation into the surface energy budget equation of a mesoscale model so that the simulated rate of temperature change closely agrees with the satellite observations. A critical assumption of the technique is that the availability of moisture (either from the soil or vegetation) is the least known term in the model's surface energy budget. Therefore, the simulated latent heat flux, which is a function of surface moisture availability, is adjusted based upon differences between the modeled and satellite-observed skin temperature tendencies. An advantage of this technique is that satellite temperature tendencies are assimilated in an energetically consistent manner that avoids energy imbalances and surface stability problems that arise from direct assimilation of surface shelter temperatures. The fact that the rate of change of the satellite skin temperature is used rather than the absolute temperature means that sensor calibration is not as critical. The assimilation technique has been applied to the Oklahoma-Kansas region during the spring-summer 2000 time period when dynamic changes in vegetation cover occur. In April, central Oklahoma is characterized by large NDVI associated with winter wheat while surrounding areas are primarily rangeland with lower NDVI. In July the vegetation pattern reverses as the central wheat area changes to low NDVI due to harvesting and the surrounding rangeland is greener than it was in April. The goal of this study is to determine if assimilating satellite land surface data can improve simulation of the complex spatial distribution of surface energy and water fluxes across this region. The PSU/NCAR NM5 V3 system is used in this study. The grid configuration consists of a 36-km CONUS domain and a 12-km nest over the area of interest. Bulk verification statistics (BIAS and RMSE) of surface air temperature and dewpoint indicates that assimilation of the satellite data results reduces both the bias and RMSE for both state variables. In addition, comparison of model data with ARM/CART EBBR flux observations reveals that the assimilation technique adjusts the bowen ratio in a realistic fashion.

Lapenta, William M.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Verification and Validation of NASA-Supported Enhancements to PECAD's Decision Support Tools

The NASA Applied Sciences Directorate (ASD), part of the Earth-Sun System Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, has partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enhance decision support in the area of agricultural efficiency-an application of national importance. The ASD integrated the results of NASA Earth science research into USDA decision support tools employed by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division (PECAD), which supports national decision making by gathering, analyzing, and disseminating global crop intelligence. Verification and validation of the following enhancements are summarized: 1) Near-real-time Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products through PECAD's MODIS Image Gallery; 2) MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data through the USDA-FAS MODIS NDVI Database; and 3) Jason-1 and TOPEX/Poseidon lake level estimates through PECAD's Global Reservoir and Lake Monitor. Where possible, each enhanced product was characterized for accuracy, timeliness, and coverage, and the characterized performance was compared to PECAD operational requirements. The MODIS Image Gallery and the GRLM are more mature and have achieved a semi-operational status, whereas the USDA-FAS MODIS NDVI Database is still evolving and should be considered

McKellipo, Rodney↗

NASA NTRS2009

Exploring Connections between Global Climate Indices and African Vegetation Phenology

Variations in agricultural production due to rainfall and temperature fluctuations are a primary cause of food insecurity on the continent in Africa. Agriculturally destructive droughts and floods are monitored from space using satellite remote sensing by organizations seeking to provide quantitative and predictive information about food security crises. Better knowledge on the relation between climate indices and food production may increase the use of these indices in famine early warning systems and climate outlook forums on the continent. Here we explore the relationship between phenology metrics derived from the 26 year AVHRR NDVI record and the North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAO), the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). We explore spatial relationships between growing conditions as measured by the NDVI and the five climate indices in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa to determine the regions and periods when they have a significant impact. The focus is to provide a clear indication as to which climate index has the most impact on the three regions during the past quarter century. We found that the start of season and cumulative NDVI were significantly affected by variations in the climate indices. The particular climate index and the timing showing highest correlation depended heavily on the region examined. The research shows that climate indices can contribute to understanding growing season variability in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa.

Brown, Molly E.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Evaluation of the Event Driven Phenology Model Coupled with the VegET Evapotranspiration Model Through Comparisons with Reference Datasets in a Spatially Explicit Manner

A new model coupling scheme with remote sensing data assimilation was developed for estimation of daily actual evapotranspiration (ET). The scheme represents a mix of the VegET, a physically based model to estimate ET from a water balance, and an event driven phenology model (EDPM), where the EDPM is an empirically derived crop specific model capable of producing seasonal trajectories of canopy attributes. In this experiment, the scheme was deployed in a spatially explicit manner within the croplands of the Northern Great Plains. The evaluation was carried out using 2007-2009 land surface forcing data from the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) and crop maps derived from remotely sensed data of NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We compared the canopy parameters produced by the phenology model with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data derived from the MODIS nadir bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) adjusted reflectance (NBAR) product. The expectations of the EDPM performance in prognostic mode were met, producing determination coefficient (r2) of 0.8 +/-.0.15. Model estimates of NDVI yielded root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.1 +/-.0.035 for the entire study area. Retrospective correction of canopy dynamics with MODIS NDVI brought the errors down to just below 10% of observed data range. The ET estimates produced by the coupled scheme were compared with ones from the MODIS land product suite. The expected r2=0.7 +/-.15 and RMSE = 11.2 +/-.4 mm per 8 days were met and even exceeded by the coupling scheme0 functioning in both prognostic and retrospective modes. Minor setbacks of the EDPM and VegET performance (r2 about 0.5 and additional 30 % of RMSR) were found on the peripheries of the study area and attributed to the insufficient EDPM training and to spatially varying accuracy of crop maps. Overall the experiment provided sufficient evidence of soundness and robustness of the EDPM and VegET coupling scheme, assuring its potential for spatially explicit applications.

Kovalskyy, V.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Browning in Desert Boundaries in Asia in Recent Decades

In this study, the changes in desert boundaries in Asia (Gobi, Karakum, Lut, Taklimakan, and Thar deserts) during the growing season (April October) in the years 1982 2008 were investigated by analyzing the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), precipitation, and temperature. In the desert boundary regions, the domain mean NDVI values increased by 7.2% per decade in 1982 1998 but decreased by 6.8% per decade thereafter. Accordingly, the bare soil areas (or nonvegetated areas) of the inside of the desert boundaries contracted by 9.8% per decade in the 1990s and expanded by 8.7% per decade in the 2000s. It is noted that the five deserts experience nearly simultaneous NDVI changes although they cover a very diverse area of Asia. In contrast, changes in temperature and precipitation in the deserts show rather diverse results. In desert boundaries located along 40 N (Gobi, Taklimakan, and Karakum), the decadal changes in vegetation greenness were mainly related to regional climate during the entire analysis period. Precipitation increased in the 1990s, providing favorable conditions for vegetation growth (i.e., greening), but precipitation reduced (19 mm per decade) and warming intensified (0.7 C per decade) in the 2000s, causing less moisture to be available for vegetation growth (i.e., browning). In desert boundaries below 40 N (Lut and Thar), although an increase in precipitation (8 mm per decade) led to greening in the 1990s, local changes in precipitation and temperature did not necessarily cause browning in the 2000s. Observed multidecadal changes in vegetation greenness in the present study suggest that under significant global and/or regional warming, changes in moisture availability for vegetation growth in desert boundaries are an important factor when understanding decadal changes in areas vulnerable to desertification over Asia.

Jeong, Su-Jong↗

NASA NTRS2014

Satellite Observed Widespread Decline in Mongolian Grasslands Largely Due to Overgrazing

The Mongolian Steppe is one of the largest remaining grassland ecosystems. Recent studies have reported widespread decline of vegetation across the steppe and about 70 percent of this ecosystem is now considered degraded. Among the scientific community there has been an active debate about whether the observed degradation is related to climate, or overgrazing, or both. Here, we employ a new atmospheric correction and cloud screening algorithm (MAIAC) to investigate trends in satellite observed vegetation phenology. We relate these trends to changes in climate and domestic animal populations. A series of harmonic functions is fitted to MODIS observed phenological curves to quantify seasonal and inter-annual changes in vegetation. Our results show a widespread decline (of about 12 percent on average) in MODIS observed NDVI across the country but particularly in the transition zone between grassland and the Gobi desert, where recent decline was as much as 40 percent below the 2002 mean NDVI. While we found considerable regional differences in the causes of landscape degradation, about 80 percent of the decline in NDVI could be attributed to increase in livestock. Changes in precipitation were able to explain about 30 percent of degradation across the country as a whole but up to 50 percent in areas with denser vegetation cover (p0.05). Temperature changes, while significant, played only a minor role (r20.10, p0.05). Our results suggest that the cumulative effect of overgrazing is a primary contributor to the degradation of the Mongolian steppe and is at least partially responsible for desertification reported in previous studies.

Mongolia↗

NASA NTRS2013

Simulations of Seasonal and Latitudinal Variations in Leaf Inclination Angle Distribution: Implications for Remote Sensing

The leaf inclination angle distribution (LAD) is an important characteristic of vegetation canopy structure affecting light interception within the canopy. However, LADs are difficult and time consuming to measure. To examine possible global patterns of LAD and their implications in remote sensing, a model was developed to predict leaf angles within canopies. Canopies were simulated using the SAIL radiative transfer model combined with a simple photosynthesis model. This model calculated leaf inclination angles for horizontal layers of leaves within the canopy by choosing the leaf inclination angle that maximized production over a day in each layer. LADs were calculated for five latitude bands for spring and summer solar declinations. Three distinct LAD types emerged: tropical, boreal, and an intermediate temperate distribution. In tropical LAD, the upper layers have a leaf angle around 35 with the lower layers having horizontal inclination angles. While the boreal LAD has vertical leaf inclination angles throughout the canopy. The latitude bands where each LAD type occurred changed with the seasons. The different LADs affected the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) with similar relationships between fAPAR and leaf area index (LAI), but different relationships between NDVI and LAI for the different LAD types. These differences resulted in significantly different relationships between NDVI and fAPAR for each LAD type. Since leaf inclination angles affect light interception, variations in LAD also affect the estimation of leaf area based on transmittance of light or lidar returns.

Seasonal↗

NASA NTRS2015

Epidemiologic and Environmental Risk Factors of Rift Valley Fever in Southern Africa from 2008 to 2011

Background: Rift Valley fever (RVF) outbreaks have been associated with periods of widespread and above normal rainfall over several months. Knowledge on the environmental factors influencing disease transmission dynamics has provided the basis for developing models to predict RVF outbreaks in Africa. From 2008 to 2011, South Africa experienced the worst wave of RVF outbreaks in almost 40 years. We investigated rainfall associated environmental factors in southern Africa preceding these outbreaks. Methods: RVF epizootic records obtained from the World Animal Health Information Database (WAHID), documenting livestock species affected, location, and time, were analyzed. Environmental variables including rainfall and satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data were collected and assessed in outbreak regions to understand the underlying drivers of the outbreaks. Results: The predominant domestic vertebrate species affected in 2008 and 2009 were cattle, when outbreaks were concentrated in the eastern provinces of South Africa. In 2010 and 2011, outbreaks occurred in the interior and southern provinces affecting over 16,000 sheep. The highest number of cases occurred between January and April but epidemics occurred in different regions every year, moving from the northeast of South Africa toward the southwest with each progressing year. The outbreaks showed a pattern of increased rainfall preceding epizootics ranging from 9 to 152 days; however, NDVI and rainfall were less correlated with the start of the outbreaks than has been observed in eastern Africa. Conclusions: Analyses of the multiyear RVF outbreaks of 2008 to 2011 in South Africa indicated that rainfall, NDVI, and other environmental and geographical factors, such as land use, drainage, and topography, play a role in disease emergence. Current and future investigations into these factors will be able to contribute to improving spatial accuracy of models to map risk areas, allowing adequate time for preparation and prevention before an outbreak occurs.

Rift Valley Fever (RVF)↗

NASA NTRS2015

Changes in Meadow Vegetation Cover in Kings Canyon National Park (California) Based on Three Decades of Landsat Image Analysis

Landsat (30 meter resolution) image analysis over the past 25 years in Kings Canyon National Park was used to track changes in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Results showed that NDVI values from the wet year of 2010 were significantly lower than NDVI values from the comparatively dry year of 2013 in the majority of meadow areas in the National Park.

Canyons↗

NASA NTRS2015

Thirty Years of Change in Subalpine Forest Cover from Landsat Image Analysis in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California

Landsat imagery was analyzed to understand changes in subalpine forest stands since the mid-1980s in the Sierra-Nevada region of California. At locations where long-term plot measurements have shown that stands are becoming denser in the number of small tree stems (compared to the early 1930s), the 30-year analysis of Landsat greenness index (NDVI) indicated that no consistent increases in canopy leaf cover have occurred at these same locations since the mid-1980s. Interannual variations in stand NDVI closely followed snow accumulation amounts recorded at nearby stations. In contrast, at eastern Sierra whitebark pine stand locations where it has been observed that widespread tree mortality has occurred, decreasing NDVI trends over the past 5-10 years were consistent with rapid loss of forest canopy cover. Landsat imagery was further analyzed to understand patterns of post-wildfire vegetation recovery, focusing on high burn severity (HBS) patches within burned areas dating from the late 1940s. Analysis of landscape metrics showed that the percentage of total HBS area comprised by the largest patch of recovered woody cover was relatively small in all fires that occurred since 1995, but increased rapidly with time since fire. Patch complexity of recovered woody cover decreased notably after more than 50 years of regrowth, but was not readily associated with time for fires that occurred since the mid 1990s. The aggregation level of patches with recovery of woody cover increased steadily with time since fire. The study approach using satellite remote sensing can be expanded to assess the consequences of stand-replacing wildfires in all forests of the region.

Fires↗

NASA NTRS2016

Impact of Spatial Sampling on Continuity of MODIS-VIIRS Land Surface Reflectance Products: A Simulation Approach

With the increasing need to construct long-term climate-quality data records to understand, monitor, and predict climate variability and change, it is vital to continue systematic satellite measurements along with the development of new technology for more quantitative and accurate observations. The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership mission provides continuity in monitoring the Earths surface and its atmosphere in a similar fashion as the heritage MODIS instruments onboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations Terra and Aqua satellites. In this paper, we aim at quantifying the consistency of Aqua MODIS and Suomi-NPP Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Land Surface Reflectance (LSR) and NDVI products as related to their inherent spatial sampling characteristics. To avoid interferences from sources of measurement and/or processing errors other than spatial sampling, including calibration, atmospheric correction, and the effects of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function, the MODIS and VIIRSLSR products were simulated using the Landsat-8s Operational Land Imager (OLI) LSR products. The simulations were performed using the instruments point spread functions on a daily basis for various OLI scenes over a 16-day orbit cycle. It was found that the daily mean differences due to discrepancies in spatial sampling remain below 0.0015 (1) in absolute surface reflectance at subgranule scale (i.e., OLI scene size).We also found that the MODISVIIRS product intercomparisons appear to be minimally impacted when differences in the corresponding view zenith angles (VZAs) are within the range of -15deg to -35deg (VZA(sub v) - VZA(sub m)), where VIIRS and MODIS footprints resemble in size. In general, depending on the spatial heterogeneity of the OLI scene contents, per-grid-cell differences can reach up to 20.Further spatial analysis of the simulated NDVI and LSR products revealed that, depending on the user accuracy requirements for product intercomparisons, spatial aggregations may be used. It was found that if per-grid-cell differences on the order of 10(in LSR or NDVI) are tolerated, the product intercomparisons are expected to be immune from differences in spatial sampling.

VIIRS↗