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Title: Surface reference data collection

Author
item JOHANNSEN, C - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item Daughtry, Craig

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2008
Publication Date: 6/1/2009
Citation: Johannsen, C.J., Daughtry, C.S. 2009. Surface reference data collection. In: Warner, T.A., Nellis, M. D., Foody, G.M., editors. The Sage Handbook of Remote Sensing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. p. 244-256.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Applications of remote sensing must define relationships between image data and conditions at corresponding points on the ground. Unfortunately, many published remote sensing reports focus on image processing techniques with little detail regarding the methods used for collecting ground truth data. We summarize components that should be considered for planning and acquiring surface reference data for a remote sensing project. The specific surface characteristics that may be measured are quite diverse and vary by application and by analysis methodology. Our discussion will focus on example applications in agriculture, but the general qualities of the reference data are extensible to most endeavors that involve remotely sensed observations. Before a researcher can apply any of these methods, he must determine the number of samples required to be reasonably confident of detecting specific differences in the surface features measured. Therefore, statistical determinations of the number of needed samples are also briefly discussed.