Designing optimal spectral indexes for remote sensing applications
Verstraete, M.M.
Pinty, B.
Space Appl. Inst., EC Joint Res. Centre, Ispra ;
This paper appears in: Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on
Publication Date: Sep 1996
Volume: 34,
Issue: 5
On page(s): 1254-1265
ISSN: 0196-2892
References Cited: 23
CODEN: IGRSD2
INSPEC Accession Number: 5395511
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/36.536541
Current Version Published: 2002-08-06
Abstract
Satellite remote sensing data constitute a significant potential
source of information on our environment, provided they can be
adequately interpreted. Vegetation indexes, a subset of the class of
spectral indexes, represent one of the most commonly used approaches to
analyze data in the optical domain. An optimal spectral index is very
sensitive to the desired information (e.g. the amount of vegetation),
and as insensitive as possible to perturbing factors (such as soil color
changes or atmospheric effects). Since both the desired signal and the
perturbing factors vary spectrally, and since the instruments themselves
only provide data for particular spectral bands, optimal indexes should
be designed for specific applications and particular instruments. This
paper describes a rational approach to the design of an optimal index to
estimate vegetation properties on the basis of the red and near-infrared
reflectances of the AVHRR instrument, taking into account the perturbing
effects of soil brightness changes, atmospheric absorption and
scattering. The rationale behind the Global Environment Monitoring index
(GEMI) is explained, and this index is proposed as an alternative to the
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for global applications.
The techniques described here are generally applicable to any
multispectral sensor and application
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