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Title: THE EOS PROTOTYPE VALIDATION EXERCISE (PROVE) AT JORNADA: OVERVIEW AND LESSONS LEARNED

Author
item PRIVETTE, J - NASA-GSFC
item ASNER, G - UNIV OF COLORADO-BOULDER
item CONEL, J - JET PROPULSION LAB
item HUEMMRICH, K - UNIV OF MD-BALTIMORE CO
item OLSON, R - OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LAB
item Rango, Albert
item RAHMAN, A - CA STATE UNIVERSITY-LA
item THOME, K - OPTICAL SCIENCES CENTER
item WALTER-SHEA, E - UNIV OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN

Submitted to: Remote Sensing of Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/15/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: New satellite instruments to be flown on the Earth Observing System (EOS) series of satellites need to have a test facility to validate their operational products. For desert and rangeland areas, the ARS Jornada Experimental Range has been chosen as a test site by several EOS instrument teams. After testing the site through a Prototype Validation Exercise, Jornada was found to be an excellent validation site because of different vegetation covers, past and ongoing remote sensing studies at Jornada, an extremely long conventional database, and excellent ground support. The Jornada Experimental Range will continue to be used as a primary validation site by NASA scientists and will be an excellent location for operational USDA agency personnel to learn how remote sensing can be applicable to their problems.

Technical Abstract: The Earth Observing System (EOS) instrument teams must validate the operational products they produce from the Terra spacecraft data. As a pilot for future validation activities, four EOS teams (MODIS, MISR, ASTER, and Landsat-7) and community experts conducted an 11-day field campaign in May 1997 near Las Cruces, NM. The goals of the Prototype Validation Exercise (PROVE) included (1) gaining experience in the collection and use of field data for EOS product validation; (2) developing coordination, measurement, and data-archiving protocols; and (3) compiling a synoptic land and atmosphere data set for testing algorithms. PROVE was held at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service's (ARS) Jornada Experimental Range, an expansive desert plateau hosting a complex mosaic of grasses and shrubs. Most macroscopic variables affecting the radiation environment were measured with ground, air-borne (including AVIRIS and laser altimeter), and dspace-borne sensors (including AVHRR, Landsat TM, SPOT, POLDER, and GOES). Primary successes included the rapid campaign formulation and execution, measurement protocol development, and the significant collection, reduction, and sharing of data among participants.