Comparison of different MODIS data product collections over an agricultural area

Abstract

Standard data products from NASA's moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) were available at launch (collection 3) and have undergone two revisions (collections 4 and 5) during the continuing Terra and Aqua missions. In 2000, a research project was conducted in large fields of corn and soybean to evaluate MODIS leaf area index (LAI) and land cover type (MOD15 and MOD12 data products, respectively) as input to crop yield models. Our objective was to compare collections 3, 4 and 5 with the ground data to determine data product improvement. Classification of land cover type for collections 3, 4 and 5 were similar to the USDA-NASS Cropland Data Layer. The collection 5 MOD15 LAI was considerably improved over earlier collections when the quality assurance flags indicated good LAI retrievals. Land surface reflectances (MOD09) of MODIS band 2 (near-infrared, 250-m) were used as inputs to an inversion of the scattering by arbitrarily inclined leaves (SAIL) model. Compared to the collection 5 MOD15 product, SAIL-derived LAI had approximately equal agreement with the field data and had less systematic bias in root mean square error (RMSE). MODIS data products were designed to address global scientific questions without reliance on ground data, whereas the SAIL model inversions required ground data for model inputs. The accuracy of MODIS observations was not limiting LAI accuracy for broadleaf crops; additional information from non-MODIS sources may be required for improved MOD15 LAI.

An Overview of Global Leaf Area Index (LAI): Methods, Products, Validation, and Applications

“…Good agreement was reported between satellite and reference LAI for grasslands, as confirmed by the lowest median RMSE (=0.48) among all biome types (Table ). Satellite LAI products generally agree well with reference data for crops (median RMSE = 0.74), although larger deviations could occur because of field measurement and scaling differences (Stern et al, ). It has been rare to validate a specific crop type.…”

Cross-ECV consistency at global scale: LAI and FAPAR changes

“…Comprehensive studies to validate these products, mostly under the framework of the Land Product Validation (LPV) subgroup of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), have been conducted performing product inter-comparisons at global scale and at regional scale ( Gobron et al, 2007 ; Weiss et al, 2007 ; McCallum et al, 2010 ; Ogutu et al, 2011 ; Fang et al, 2012 , Fang et al, 2013 ; Camacho et al, 2013 ; Claverie et al, 2013 ; Martínez et al, 2013 ; Serbin et al, 2013 ; D'Odorico et al, 2014 ; Pickett-Heaps et al, 2014 ; Stern et al, 2014 ; Yan et al, 2016b ; Zhang et al, 2020 ; Fuster et al, 2020 ; Bayat et al, 2020 ). These products were compared with several ground field measurements ( Gobron et al, 2007 ; Camacho et al, 2013 ; Tao et al, 2015 ; Xiao et al, 2015 ; Gobron et al, 2019 , Gobron et al, 2021 ; Brown et al, 2020 ; Fang et al, 2019 ; Fuster et al, 2020 ).…”

Comparison of EPIC-Simulated and MODIS-Derived Leaf Area Index (LAI) across Multiple Spatial Scales

“…Ecological research has utilized satellite-derived LAI estimates for retrospective analysis, e.g., [3,4], however these data will never be available for prospective meteorological or alternative management applications. This study is a two-tiered effort to compare regional LAI estimates from the most recent algorithm change in the level, MODIS collection comparisons of collections 3-5 were made to track LAI differences in corn and soybean crop types in Illinois [27].…”