The 1991 AVIRIS/POLDER experiment in Camargue, France

Airborne campaigns during the eighties provided high spectral resolution data, collected with imaging instruments such as AIS, AVIRIS, FLI, CAESI, and ISM, in order to investigate the relationship with canopy biophysical characteristics. The statistical approaches used to analyze these data do not allow investigation of the causality and the applicability of the observed correlations. Further, statistical studies demonstrated the high degree of redundancy of the spectral information amongst many others. And for retrieving vegetation biophysical characteristics, few results demonstrate the real information gain attributable to the high spectral resolution capability as compared to the use of a few wide wavelength bands. With several new imaging spectrophotometers scheduled for launch during the next 10 years (MERIS, MODIS, HIRIS), progress in the description and understanding of the mechanisms that drive the spectral variation of canopy reflectance is required. Most of these new sensor systems will also have the capability to observe the target under differing view directions. The problem of the combination and the use of the synergy between both the spectral and the directional sources of canopy reflectance variations has to be addressed. Apart from the atmospheric effects, the spectral variation of the light reflected by canopies originates from the leaves, the soil or the other vegetation elements such as branches and fruits. At leaf level, both diffuse reflectance and transmittance may be simulated by simple models, although no accurate information exists on the absorption features of the biochemicals (except water) in the 900-2500nm wavelength range. Many models mimic the directional variability of canopy reflectance at a given wavelength. Combining a leaf spectral model with a canopy directional model provides a powerful tool to analyze this problem. Some of us have initiated such a study, but our approach and theory remain to be tested using canopy data with their complexity, associated experimental error, and atmospheric effects. The main objective of the 1990 POLDER/AVIRIS experiment in Camargue was to provide a consistent data set over various canopies in order to test the applicability of the theory. The experiment, part of the 1991 MAC Europe experiment, involved simultaneous data collection using two sensors: AVIRIS and POLDER which measures the bidirectional and polarization properties of the targets at 670 and 880nm wavebands.