Detecting vegetation leaf water content using reflectance in the optical domain

This paper outlines the first part of a series of research studies to investigate the potential and approaches for using optical remote sensing to assess vegetation water content. It first analyzes why most methods used as approximations of vegetation water content (such as vegetation stress indices...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Remote sensing of environment 2001-07, Vol.77 (1), p.22-33
Main Authors: Ceccato, Pietro, Flasse, Stéphane, Tarantola, Stefano, Jacquemoud, Stéphane, Grégoire, Jean-Marie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied geophysics
Approximation theory
Biological and medical sciences
Chlorophyll
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Environmental Sciences
Exact sciences and technology
Fuel moisture content
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Image analysis
Internal geophysics
Leaf water content
Light reflection
Optical domain
Sensitivity analysis
Shortwave infrared
Synecology
Terrestrial ecosystems
Vegetation
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Summary:This paper outlines the first part of a series of research studies to investigate the potential and approaches for using optical remote sensing to assess vegetation water content. It first analyzes why most methods used as approximations of vegetation water content (such as vegetation stress indices, estimation of degree of curing and chlorophyll content) are not suitable for retrieving water content at leaf level. It then documents the physical basis supporting the use of remote sensing to directly detect vegetation water content in terms of Equivalent Water Thickness (EWT) at leaf level. Using laboratory measurements, the radiative transfer model PROSPECT and a sensitivity analysis, it shows that shortwave infrared (SWIR) is sensitive to EWT but cannot be used alone to retrieve EWT because two other leaf parameters (internal structure and dry matter) also influence leaf reflectance in the SWIR. A combination of SWIR and NIR (only influenced by these two parameters) is necessary to retrieve EWT at leaf level. These results set the basis towards establishing operational techniques for the retrieval of EWT at top-of-canopy and top-of-atmospheric levels.
ISSN:0034-4257
1879-0704
DOI:10.1016/S0034-4257(01)00191-2