Characterization and Compensation of the Atmosphere for the Inversion of AVIRIS Calibrated Radiance to Apparent Surface Reflectance

Calibrated radiance spectra measured remotely record the integrated effects of the solar source, the atmosphere, and the surface. To pursue scientific research and applications, based on the molecular absorptions and constituent scattering properties of the surface, the solar source and atmosphere must be characterized and compensated in the spectra. This paper describes a set of radiative transfer spectral fitting algorithms that characterize the absorbing and scattering constituents of the atmosphere from calibrated AVIRIS spectra. These atmospheric characteristics were used in conjunction with the illumination and observation geometries to invert the AVIRIS calibrated radiance spectra to apparent surface reflectance. A validation of the algorithm was performed with in-situ reflectance spectra acquired at the time of the AVIRIS overflight over Pasadena, California, in 1994.