Atmospheric Correction Issues of Optical Imagery in Land Remote Sensing

As land remote sensing applications are expanding to the extraction of quantitative information, the importance of atmospheric correction is increasing. Considering the difficulty of atmospheric correction for land images, it should be applied when it is necessary. The quantitative information extraction and time-series analysis on biophysical variables in land surfaces are two major applications that need atmospheric correction. Atmospheric aerosol content and column water vapor, which are very dynamic in spatial and temporal domain, are the most influential elements and obstacles in retrieving accurate surface reflectance. It is difficult to obtain aerosol and water vapor data that have suitable spatio-temporal scale for high- and medium-resolution multispectral imagery. Selection of atmospheric correction method should be based on the availability of appropriate aerosol and water vapor data. Most atmospheric correction of land imagery assumes the Lambertian surface, which is not the case for most natural surfaces. Further BRDF correction should be considered to remove or reduce the anisotropic effects caused by different sun and viewing angles. The atmospheric correction methods of optical imagery over land will be enhanced to meet the need of quantitative remote sensing. Further, imaging sensor system may include pertinent spectral bands that can help to extract atmospheric data simultaneously.