Identifying Crop Leaf Angle Distribution Based on Two-Temporal and Bidirectional Canopy Reflectance

The effect of crop leaf angle on the canopy-reflected spectrum cannot be ignored in the inversion of leaf area index (LAI) and the monitoring of the crop-growth condition using remote-sensing technology. In this paper, experiments on winter wheat (
Triticum aestivum
L.) were conducted to identify the crop leaf angle distribution (LAD) by two-temporal (erecting and elongation stages) and bidirectional
in situ
reflected spectrum and the Airborne Multiangle Thermal Infrared (TIR) Visible Near-Infrared (VNIR) Imaging System (AMTIS) images. The distribution characters of the leaf angle for different LAD varieties were expressed using the beta-distribution function and the SAILTH radiative transfer models. The proportion of the leaf angle in 5deg angle classes (from 5deg to 90deg) for erectophile, planophile, and horizontal varieties was dominated by 75deg, 55deg, and 35deg. The different LAD varieties had a similar canopy reflectance in 680 nm (red) and 800 nm (near-infrared band) at the erecting stage, while they had significant differences at the elongation stage. The ratio of the canopy reflectance of 800 nm at the erecting stage [R800(B)] to the canopy reflectance of 800 nm at the elongation stage [R800(A)] was used to identify the different LAD varieties through the selected two-temporal canopy reflectance. A method based on the semiempirical model of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) was also introduced in this paper. The structural parameter-sensitive index (SPEI) was used in this paper for crop LAD identification. SPEI is proved to be more sensitive to identify erectophile, planophile, and horizontal LAD varieties than the structural scattering index and the normalized difference f-index. We found that it is feasible to identify horizontal, planophile, and erectophile LAD varieties of wheat by studying two-temporal and bidirectional canopy-reflected spectrum