MODIS LAI product has been increasingly important for analyzing the process and productivity of terrestrial ecosystems at global scale. This study was aimed to assess the quality of global MODIS LAI product for applications in regional and even in local scales. To examine the quality of MODIS LAI data, we produced a reference LAI map that was derived by relating the ground-measured LAI to Lands...

In this paper, we present a theoretical and modeling framework to estimate the fractions of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) absorbed by vegetation canopy (FAPARcanopy), leaf (FAPARleaf ), and chlorophyll (FAPARchl), respectively. FAPARcanopy is an important biophysical variable and has been used to estimate gross and net primary production. However, only PAR absorbed by chlorophyll is...

Chlorophyll-a (Chl) concentration in the Taiwan Strait (TWS) and in the South China Sea (SCS) was estimated using time series of satellite data collected with the MODIS/Aqua and SeaWiFS instruments, and validated with in situ measurements from three cruises conducted in winter and summer 2004. For Chl between 0.1 and 10mg m , both SeaWiFS and MODIS agreed well with in situ data. Errors for turb...

Synergistic applications of multi-resolution satellite data have been of a great interest among user communities for the development of an improved and more effective operational monitoring system of natural resources, including vegetation and soil. In this study, we conducted an inter-comparison of two remote sensing products, namely, visible/near-infrared surface reflectances and spectral veg...

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is one of the key sensors among the suite of remote sensing instruments on board the Earth Observing System Terra and Aqua spacecrafts. For each MODIS spectral band, the sensor degradation has been measured using a set of on-board calibrators. MODIS also uses lunar observations from nearly monthly spacecraft maneuvers, which bring the Mo...

The presence of snow cover has significant impacts on the both global and regional climate and water balance on earth. The accurate estimation of snow cover area can be used for forecasting runoff due to snow melt and output of hydroelectric power. With development of remote sensing techniques at different scopes in earth science, enormous algorithms for retrieval hydrometeor parameters have be...

Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is a next-generation polar-orbiting operational environmental sensor with a capability for global aerosol observations. A comprehensive validation of VIIRS products is significant for improving product quality, assessing environment quality for human life, and studying regional climate change. In this study, three-year (from 1 January 2014 to 31...