AMARTIS v2: 3D radiative transfer code in the [0.4; 2.5 μm] spectral domain dedicated to urban areas

Abstract

The availability of new very high spatial resolution sensors has for the past few years allowed a precise description of urban areas, and thus the settlement of specific ground or atmosphere characterization methods. However, in order to develop such techniques, a radiative transfer tool dedicated to such an area is necessary. AMARTIS v2 is a new radiative transfer code derived from the radiative transfer code AMARTIS specifically dedicated to urban areas. It allows to simulate airborne and spaceborne multiangular observations of 3D scenes in the [0.4; 2.5μm] domain with the ground's geometry, urban materials optical properties, atmospheric modeling and sensor characteristics entirely defined by the user. After a general presentation of AMARTIS v2 and a description of the performed calculations, results of radiometric intercomparisons with other radiative transfer codes are presented and the new offered potentials are illustrated with four realistic examples, representative of current issues in urban areas remote sensing. © 2011 by the authors.