DISSERTATION

1. DISSERTATION BOSTON UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ART AND SCIENCES LAI AND FPAR ESTIMATION AND LAND COVER IDENTIFICATION WITH MULTIANGLE MULTISPECTRAL SATELLITE DATA by YU ZHANG Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Total of 31 visuals)

2. 3/31 Multiangle Remote Sensing Multiangle remote sensing is simultaneous measurement along different look angles of reflected radiation from a target. Examples: • ATSR-2 (2 observation angles, 1km resolution) • POLDER (up to 14 observation angles, 6km resolution) • MISR (9 observation angles, 1.1km resolution)

3. What is land cover? Land cover is simply a description of the kind of vegetation at a location at a given time. Land Cover (1) Broad Leaf Crops Forests Shrubs Grasses

4. Why is land cover important? Land cover and land use changes inferred from vegetation maps are a direct evidence of the human and climate impact on the land. Most climate and biogeochemical models, as well as algorithms that estimate surface biophysical variables from remote sensing data, utilize vegetation maps to assign certain key parameters to reduce the number of unknowns. 5/31 Land Cover (2)

5. 6/31 LAI and FPAR (1) What? • LAI – Green Leaf Area Index = one-sided green leaf area per unit ground surface area • FPAR – Fraction of incident Photosynthetically Active Radiation Absorbed by the vegetation canopy = APAR / IPAR

6. 7/31 LAI and FPAR (2) Why? • LAI is a key state variable in all land parameterization of climate, ecology, and hydrology models. • FPAR is a key variable in terrestrial carbon models.

7. 8/31 Objectives The objective of my research is to demonstrate the utility of multiangle multispectral remote sensing for estimation of LAI, FPAR and land cover. Specifically, • Prototype the MISR LAI/FPAR algorithm (Part I) • Empirical and theoretical analysis f multiangle, multispectral data (Part II) • Land cover classification with multiangle multispectral data (Part III)

8. PART I: Prototyping MSIR LAI/FPAR Algorithm • POLDER Data: • ~6km resolution • Africa • Nov. 1996 • Up to 14 multiangle data per pixel • Biome Classification Map

9. BCM-Africa Biome Classification Map derived from AVHRR data (8km)

10. 11/31 The Algorithm Metrics of multiangle observations and uncertainties Algorithm LUT based inverse solution of the 3D transport equation • LAI & FPAR • Solution Distribution Functions: • mean • variance

11. 12/31 Saturation Frequency Saturation Frequency decreases using multiangle data

12. 13/31 Dispersion of LAI Dispersion of LAI for single-angle retrievals and multiangle retrievals for broadleaf crops.

13. 15/31 Part I: Conclusions • The MISR LAI/FPAR algorithm performs satisfactorily • Retrieval accuracy increases in the case of multiangle inputs Note: This work is published in Zhang et al, Prototyping of MISR LAI and FPAR algorithm with POLDER data over Africa. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens. 38:2402-2418, 2000.

14. Part II: Investigations of Multiangle Data • Empirical Analysis • BRDF? • Angular signatures in spectral space? • Theoretical Analysis (will not be presented here)

15. 17/31 BRDF backscattering forward scattering B.S. F.S. B.S. F.S. B.S.

16. Angular Signature in Spectral Space

17. 19/31 Interpretation of the Angular Signature Indices • Location — Biome type • Intercept Indices — Vegetation ground cover • Length Indices — Canopy structure • Slope Indices — LAI

18. 20/31 IGBP-AS Angular signatures in the red-NIR (near-infrared) spectral space of the ten land covers from Hansen et al. (2000) 1 km land cover map of North America.

19. 21/31 Part II: Conclusions • We developed metrics that characterize the BRDF for use in land cover classification • These metrics have a basis in transport theory • Note: These works is described in a two-part series: Zhang et al., Required consistency between definitions and signatures with the physics of remote sensing I: empirical arguments. And II: theoretical arguments. Remote Sens. Environ.(Submitted in January 2001).

20. Part III: Land Cover Classification with Angular Signature Indices • Data • North America land cover training sites • POLDER Data (June 1997, North America) • Methods MANOVA, PCA, Correlation Matrix • Classification Techniques • Decision tree classification • Maximum likelihood classification

21. 23/31 Classification Variables • Spectral • Location (2) • Red, NIR • Angular • Length, Slope, Intercept (3) • 3 measurement patterns (33=9) • Total 9+2=11 variables

22. 24/31 Statistic1

23. 25/31 Variance of PCA Data information content is larger than spectral variables only

24. 2-Classify The maximum classification accuracies as functions of the number of variables used in the decision tree and maximum likelihood classification methods.

25. 27/31 Part III: Conclusions • The statistical analyses confirm the idea that incorporating angular signature variables will improve biome classification. • The maximum likelihood classification result indicates a improvement of classification accuracy using directional variables. • Note: These works is prepared for publication: Zhang and Woodcock, Improve the land cover classification accuracy with multiangle remote sensing data. (In preparation, 2001).

26. CONCLUDING REMARKS My research demonstrates: • Satisfactory performance of the MISR LAI/FPAR algorithm • Multiangle data improve accuracy of LAI/FPAR retrievals • It is possible to define simple metrics that characterize the BRDF – a complicated 4D function • Multiangle data contain information useful for land cover classification

27. 29/31 FUTURE DIRECTIONS • Comprehensive analysis of MISR data to further develop these ideas ( It is not my job! :) • Introducing temporal domain in land cover classification activity.

28. 30/31 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • Committee • Fellow Graduate Student • Data provider: • Leroy, Diner, McIver

29. 31/31 Thank you all! • Questions Please…