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Title: REMOTE SENSING SPATIAL RESOLUTION ANALYSIS USING A TWO-SOURCE ENERGY BALANCE MODEL AND LANDSAT TM/ETM DATA

Author
item Li, Fuqin
item Kustas, William - Bill
item Jackson, Thomas
item Prueger, John

Submitted to: BARC Poster Day
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/7/2004
Publication Date: 5/1/2004
Citation: Li, F., Kustas, W.P., Jackson, T.J., Prueger, J.H. 2004. Remote sensing spatial resolution analysis using two-source energy balance model and Landsat TM/ETM data [abstract]. Abs. 9. BARC Poster Day.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The potential impact of spatial resolution of input data derived by remote sensing on flux estimation was analyzed. Land surface temperature and the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) derived from Landsat TM/ETM data along with meteorological data were used as provide inputs for a two-source canopy model. This model evaluates soil and vegetation contributions to the energy fluxes and allows interaction between soil and vegetation.These high resolution estimates clearly showed spatial and temporal variations due to the different crop covers (primarily corn and soybean) and management practices. These spatial variations are difficult to observe in a coarse resolution image, such as MODIS or AVHRR and it is clear that a great deal of spatial information that is useful at the field scale is lost when AVHRR or MODIS is used. As validation, the fluxes estimated from the two-source model were compared with tower-based measurements. Although there are differences the simple two-source model provides a useful technique to use with remotely sensed thermal and NIR/SWIR data. Spatial variations in the fluxes at different spatial scales were also analyzed to investigate the impact of resolution on radiative properties and resulting impact on energy and water flux estimation.