Correction of Directional Effects in VEGETATION NDVI Time-Series

Land surface reflectance measurements from the VEGETATION program (SPOT-4, SPOT-5 and PROBA-V satellites) have led to the acquisition of consistent time-series of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at a global scale. The wide imaging swath (>2000 km) of the family of VEGETATION space-borne sensors ensures a daily coverage of the Earth at the expense of a varying observation and illumination geometries between successive orbit overpasses for a given target located on the ground. Such angular variations infer saw-like patterns on time-series of reflectance and NDVI. The presence of directional effects is not a real issue provided that they can be properly removed, which supposes an appropriate BRDF (Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function) sampling as offered by the VEGETATION program. An anisotropy correction supports a better analysis of the temporal shapes and spatial patterns of land surface reflectance values and vegetation indices such as NDVI. Herein we describe a BRDF correction methodology, for the purpose of the Copernicus Global Land Service framework, which includes notably an adaptive data accumulation window and provides uncertainties associated with the NDVI computed with normalized reflectance. Assessing the general performance of the methodology in comparing time-series between normalized and directional NDVI reveals a significant removal of the high-frequency noise due to directional effects. The proposed methodology is computationally efficient to operate at a global scale to deliver a BRDF-corrected NDVI product based on long-term Time-Series of VEGETATION sensor and its follow-on with the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite constellation.

Automated summary

Land surface reflectance measurements from the VEGETATION program have provided consistent time-series of NDVI globally, but directional effects need to be corrected using a BRDF correction methodology. The proposed methodology shows significant removal of high-frequency noise caused by directional effects and is computationally efficient for global operation.