Influencia del ángulo de observación en la estimación del índice de área foliar (LAI) mediante imágenes PROBA/CHRIS

Abstract

The estimation of biophysical variables, such as the Leaf Area Index (LAI), using remote sensing techniques, is still the subject of numerous studies, since these variables allow obtaining valuable information on the vegetation status. In this work, we estimate LAI from multiangular PROBA/CHRIS images, by analyzing the reflectance measured in its 5 observation angles, for the bands centered in 665 and 705 nm. These wavelengths correspond to the chlorophyll absorption band and the Red-Edge region, respectively. The Normalized Difference Index (NDI) calculated from this wavelengths, shows good correlation with LAI and allows its remote sensing estimation and its applicability to the recently launched ESA Sentinel 2, thanks to its new bands in the Red-Edge. This research analyzed the influence on the acquisition geometry in the NDI, calibrating the relationship between this index and the LAI for each of the five observation angles in the PROBA / CHRIS images. As a result, we have obtained a relationship capable of providing LAI from the viewing angle and the NDI index.