Variable empirical coefficient algorithm for removal of topographic effects on remotely sensed data from rugged terrain

A new topographic correction approach, Variable Empirical Coefficient Algorithm (VECA), was developed on the theoretical and statistic analysis of the spectral response of remotely sensed data acquired from the rugged terrain and topographic variables. Practical performance of the proposed approach was systematically introduced and analyzed in comparison with that before topographic correction. The test site selected for the study is located on the relatively rugged terrain over the south hill of the Qinling Mountain in Shanxi province, China, the remotely sensed data utilized for examining the performance of the proposed approach VECA is Landsat-7 ETM+ image acquired over the test site. Visual comparison and statistical analysis were adopted for feasible evaluation of the proposed algorithm, and the results suggested that the proposed approach VECA is capable for removing the topographic effects contained in ETM+ image, VECA was not only good in performance on topographical affection removal but also simple in theory and easy for operation, which implied the VECA an effective topographic correction algorithm in remote sensing techniques.