Overview of the 2015 Algodones Sand Dunes field campaign to support sensor intercalibration

Abstract

Abstract. Several sites from around the world are being used operationally and are suitable for vicarious calibration of space-borne imaging platforms. However, due to the proximity of these sites (e.g., Libya 4), a rigorous characterization of the landscape is not feasible, limiting their utility for sensor intercalibration efforts. Due to its accessibility and similarities to Libya 4, the Algodones Sand Dunes System in California, USA, was identified as a potentially attractive intercalibration site for space-borne, reflective instruments such as Landsat. In March 2015, a 4-day field campaign was conducted to develop an initial characterization of Algodones with a primary goal of assessing its intercalibration potential. Five organizations from the US and Canada collaborated to collect both active and passive airborne image data, spatial and temporal measurements of spectral bidirectional reflectance distribution function, and in-situ sand samples from several locations across the Algodones system. The collection activities conducted to support the campaign goal is summarized, including a summary of all instrumentation used, the data collected, and the experiments performed in an effort to characterize the Algodones site. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

Retrieval of Sediment Fill Factor by Inversion of a Modified Hapke Model Applied to Sampled HCRF from Airborne and Satellite Imagery

“…The Algodones Dunes System has recently been identified as a potential site for the inter-calibration of space-borne sensors. The site has shown promise due to its similarity to the pseudoinvariant calibration site (PICS) Libya-4 [39,46]. The 2015 field campaign provided the information required to perform absolute radiometric correction using the Algodones site as a PICS [39].…”

“…The site has shown promise due to its similarity to the pseudoinvariant calibration site (PICS) Libya-4 [39,46]. The 2015 field campaign provided the information required to perform absolute radiometric correction using the Algodones site as a PICS [39]. Portable spectrometers and hyperspectral goniometers obtained ground truth data which characterized both spatial and temporal variability's within the dunes [3,39,47].…”

“…The 2015 field campaign provided the information required to perform absolute radiometric correction using the Algodones site as a PICS [39]. Portable spectrometers and hyperspectral goniometers obtained ground truth data which characterized both spatial and temporal variability's within the dunes [3,39,47]. The imaging platform G-LiHT collected complementary hyperspectral and LiDAR data for the characterization of the terrain [39,40].…”

“…Located in Southern California, our area of study is the Algodones Dunes, a potentially desirable site for the vicarious calibration of space-borne imaging sensors [39]. A major field campaign was conducted in March 2015 to characterize the Dunes.…”

“…A major field campaign was conducted in March 2015 to characterize the Dunes. The NASA Goddard LiDAR, hyperspectral, and thermal (G-LiHT) sensor suite [39,40] collected airborne imagery during the field campaign, and the field team collected sediment samples from various sites across the dune system, capturing the variation in its geophysical properties [3,39]. During the campaign, Hyperspectral hemispherical conical reflectance factor (HCRF) measurements of sediments were collected on site using the Goniometer of the Rochester Institute of Technology (GRIT), and later from samples returned to RIT in a laboratory setting using GRIT and a second generation instrument, the Goniometer of the Rochester Institute of Technology Two (GRIT-T) [3,39,41].…”