3D Vegetation Laboratory - reference site and benchmarking tool
Watch our video illustrating the 3d reconstruction! Download it here
Abstract
The up-coming generation of ESA operational missions - the Sentinels -
will enhance the capability to observe the vegetated surfaces of the
Earth. Nevertheless the quantitative interpretation of the Earth
Observation (EO) signal is a challenging task because vegetation is a
complex and dynamic medium. Effects of horizontal and vertical
heterogeneities and asymmetrical structures of vegetation as well as
their high temporal dynamics are often neglected in the algorithm
development, calibration and validation procedures. To better
understand the scientific basis as well as the potential of future and
upcoming missions we need detailed knowledge about the observed medium
and the processes governing the radiative transfer. The combination of
a realistic description of the medium in high detail together with a
validated radiative transfer model was used to create a virtual lab mimicking
reality which is capable to assess the potential of novel observation
systems as well as to develop new algorithms and understand scaling
issues from point measurements to the landscape. The advancement of
ground based LiDAR systems provided information that contributed to
describing and reconstructing forest stands in 3D down to the
leaf/shoot level. Such detailed representations of the canopy
structure and the distribution of leaves/branches within a 3D
radiative transfer model now allow for the simulation of current and
future missions in a controlled but realistic environment. It would
thus offer an opportunity to test and develop dedicated applications
to integrate EO into Earth system modeling. The 3D-VegtationLab has
developed a concept for land surface reference sites, which was
demonstrated for two selected pilot super-sites as a scientific
support tool. The tool includes a standardized and comprehensive
multi-temporal and multi-scale benchmark dataset together with a
scientific toolbox based on a radiative transfer model. The
3D-Vegetation Lab provides the scientific community with a common
benchmarking tool to develop, validate and compare biophysical EO
products from space-borne missions with special attention to prepare
for upcoming Sentinels. The 3D-VegetationLab was financed by ESA's
STSE funding scheme, and partners were University College of London
(UK), TU Wien (AUT), CESBIO Toulouse (FR) and Netcetera (CH). The main project outcomes are described in the final report (PDF) and presentation linked below. The main achievements of the project can be found under the tabs Sites Sites(3d world files), EO Data (multi-scale and -temporal EO data) and Software (BEAM plugin encapsuling the RT models librat and DART).