Airborne comprehensive remote sensing experiment of forest and grass resources in Xiaoluan River Basin

Abstract

Comprehensive remote sensing experiments play an important role in the development of remote sensing science and technology. Both the fundamental research and application of remote sensing need to be supported by experiments. The State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science (SLRSS) has organized a large remote sensing experiment for the studies of carbon cycle over complex land surfaces in the upper reaches of the Xiaoluan River basin since 2018. This paper is targeted to introduce the objectives, study regions, observation parameters, methods and prospects of the experiment and to provide a useful reference for the design of remote sensing experiments. The experiment adopted the satellite, airborne, and ground-based remote sensing, collected the data from the satellites in orbit and the remote sensing products covering the study region. The aerial and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) remote sensing experiments were carried out with optical sensors to obtain key parameters of water cycle, carbon cycle and energy flow. Ground observation experiments were synchronously carried out to monitor the key parameters of atmosphere, vegetation and soil. Rich amount of remote sensing data were collected from ground observation experiments, UAV and aerial remote sensing experiments. Driven by the experiment, the SLRSS set up a number of comprehensive observation towers in the experimental area in 2020, equipped with a variety of observation instruments and started long time series observation task. The construction of the large scale virtual scenery for remote sensing experiment and the operation of the BEPS (Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator) model are being carried out. The comprehensive experiment on carbon cycle at complex surfaces in Xiaoluan River basin has effectively obtained the key parameters of surface water, energy and carbon cycles by using the satellite, airborne, and ground-based remote sensing. The experiment provides the important basic data for the development of remote sensing mechanism model, inversion method and scale transformation research. It has been used to establish a comprehensive validation platform for remote sensing mechanism models, to improve the applicability of remote sensing products at complex surfaces, and to clarify the physical process of carbon-water coupling on watershed scale.