An assessment of the effectiveness of atmospheric correction algorithms through the remote sensing of some reservoirs

Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) retrieval over land using satellite image-based algorithm

“…Pre-processing refers to those operations that precede the main image analysis, and include geometric and radiometric corrections. Radiometric correction is more difficult than correction for geometric effects, since the distributions and intensities of these effects are often inadequately known; but unfortunately, it cannot be neglected, particularly when multitemporal images are to be interpreted (Hadjimitsis et al 2004;Richards and Jia 2005). The most difficult step in radiometric correction is the removal of atmospheric effects.…”

“…Part of the brightness (radiance or reflectance) is due to the reflectance of the target of interest, and the remainder is derived from the brightness of the atmosphere itself. The separation of contributions is not known a priori, so the objective of atmospheric correction is to quantify these two components so that the main analysis can be made on the correct target reflectance or radiance values (Hadjimitsis 1999). After the remotely sensed data have been received and undergone preliminary correction at the groundreceiving station, the next step is to pre-process the data.…”

“…The problem of atmospheric intervention has received considerable attention from researchers in remote sensing who have developed a range of methods, both simple and sophisticated. Hadjimitsis et al (2004) categorizes the atmospheric correction algorithms into absolute and relative corrections and explored the need to develop fully image-based atmospheric correction methods.…”

“…Nevertheless, aerosol scattering and absorption do vary, and these are the main variables in the atmospheric effect on satellite remote sensing. One way to describe the information which refers to the atmospheric optical characteristics is by using the four following parameters: the aerosol optical thickness, the phase function (the angular distribution of the scattered radiation, which is the probability that light will be scattered into a unit solid angle), the single scattering albedo, and the gaseous absorption (Hadjimitsis 1999). The main problem in atmospheric correction is the difficulty in determining these optical characteristics and especially the aerosol optical thickness which is the most important unknown parameter for every atmospheric correction algorithm or air-quality model.…”

“…(b) Effective aerosol retrieval information is also essential to satellite imagery atmospheric correction (Kaufman and Tanré 1996;Kaufman and Sendra 1998;Hadjimitsis et al 2004;Hadjimitsis 2008). (c) Aerosols are considered as one of the major air pollutants responsible for human health problems related to the respiratory system.…”