Mapping biophysical variables from solar and thermal infrared remote sensing: Focus on agricultural landscapes with spatial heterogeneity

Abstract

This letter closes a Special Stream that focuses on spatial heterogeneity when mapping biophysical variables over agricultural landscape from solar and thermal infrared remote sensing. We propose an overview of the highlights from prior research, we report the main results of the Special Stream, and we discuss future directions. The main outcomes of the Special Stream are related to: 1) the impact on the remotely sensed signal of canopy vertical distribution, shadowing effects, and multiple scattering; 2) the notion of spatial resolution limit in relation to spatial heterogeneity; and 3) the definition of an optimal sampling strategy to spatialize ground measurements. © 2004-2012 IEEE.