Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) : algorithm theoretical basis document : FAPAR and rectifed channels over terrestrial surfaces

This Algorithm Theoretical Basis document (ATBd) describes the Joint Research Center (JRC)- procedure used to retrieve information of absorbed photosynthetical radiation by the vegetated terrestrial surfaces from an analysis of the Top Of Atmosphere (TOA) data acquired by MERIS. The code of the proposed algorithm takes the form of a set of several formulae which transform calibrated spectral directional reflectances into a single numerical value. These formulae are designed to extract the green Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) in the plant canopy from the measurements and the rectifed channels in the red and near-infrared bands. The methodology described in this document has been optimized to assess the presence on the ground of healthy live green vegetation. The main optimization procedure has been constrained to provide an estimate of FAPAR in the plant canopy, although the outputs are expected to be used in a wide range of applications. This algorithm delivers, in addition to the FAPAR product, the so-called rectifed reflectance values in the red and near-infrared spectral bands. These are virtual reflectances largely decontaminated from atmospheric and angular effects. It also provides a categorization of pixel types thanks to a pre-processing identification based on multi-spectral properties. These two virtual reflectances are also computed over bare soils using specific coefficients. This document identifies the sources of input data, outlines the physical principles and mathematical background justifying this approach, describes the proposed algorithm, and lists the assumptions and limitations of this technique.