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Landsat 8 Remote Sensing Reflectance (Rrs) Products: Evaluations, Intercomparisons, and EnhancementsThe Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard Landsat-8 is generating high-quality aquatic science products, the most critical of which is the remote sensing reflectance (Rrs), defined as the ratio of water-leaving radiance to the total downwelling irradiance just above water. The quality of the Rrs products has not, however, been extensively assessed. This manuscript provides a comprehensive evaluation of Level-1B, i.e., top of atmosphere reflectance, and Rrs products available from OLI imagery under near-ideal atmospheric conditions in moderately turbid waters. The procedure includes a) evaluations of the Rrs products at sites included in the Ocean Color component of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET-OC), b) intercomparisons and cross-calibrations against other ocean color products, and c) optimizations of vicarious calibration gains across the entire OLI observing swath. Results indicate that the near-infrared and shortwave infrared (NIR-SWIR) band combinations yield the most robust and stable Rrs retrievals in moderately turbid waters. Intercomparisons against products derived from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer onboard the Aqua platform (MODISA) indicate slight across-track non-uniformities (<1%) associated with OLI scenes in the blue bands. In both product domains (TOA and Rrs), on average, the OLI products were found larger in radiometric responses in the blue channels. Following the implementation of updated vicarious calibration gains and accounting for across-track non-uniformities, matchup analyses using independent in-situ validation data confirmed improvements in Rrs products. These findings further support high-fidelity OLI-derived aquatic science products in terms of both demonstrating a robust atmospheric correction method and providing consistent products across OLI's imaging swath.
Document ID
20170005495
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Pahlevan, Nima
(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)
Schott, John R.
(Rochester Inst. of Tech. Rochester, NY, United States)
Franz, Bryan A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Zibordi, Giuseppe
(Commission of the European Communities Ispra, Italy)
Markham, Brian
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Bailey, Sean
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Schaaf, Crystal B.
(Massachusetts Univ. Boston, MA, United States)
Ondrusek, Michael
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration College Park, MD, United States)
Greb, Steven
(Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources Madison, WI, United States)
Strait, Christopher M.
(Upstate Freshwater Inst. Syracuse, NY, United States)
Date Acquired
June 12, 2017
Publication Date
March 1, 2017
Publication Information
Publication: Remote Sensing of Environment
Publisher: Elsevier
Volume: 190
ISSN: 0034-4257
Subject Category
Oceanography
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN43369
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG15HQ01C
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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