TRANSFORM-EO · Towards the opeRAtioNal Surface Fluxes and sOil Moisture Retrievals from Earth Observation data
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2013-05-01 → 2017-04-30
- EU contribution
- €100,000
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-CIG
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Results in brief
Towards the opeRAtioNal Surface Fluxes and sOil Moisture Retrievals from Earth Observation data
The overall objective of TRANSFORM-EO research was to develop a fundamental understanding of the ability of a remote sensing methodology named the “triangle” technique in deriving latent (LE) and sensible (H) heat fluxes LE/H fluxes, as well as of surface moisture content (SMC), and to provide a first investigation of the ability of this technique in deriving the above parameters when used with remote sensors which are planned to be launched by Space Agencies in the coming years. This specific technique has already been identified from previous works as one able to move forward on operational implementation. The lack of knowledge related to different aspects of this approach until the time when this research project was started was leading to direct problems and uncertainties when predicting the energy fluxes and SMC, making indispensable the present study. Thus, the proposed research greatly assisted the better understanding, from a remote sensing point of view, physical processes between the different components of the Earth system, a key direction identified for future research by the scientific community. The research outcomes of the project are provided in detail in the +15 research papers published to international journals, 4 book chapters and +25 conference contributions to international conferences which were produced (see project web site here: http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/iges/research-groups/earth-observation-laboratory/research/transform-eo/). A detail list of the publications is provided at the bottom of this report. In addition, this work resulted to developing a new open access software tool named Seviri PrePro (http://www.aber.ac.uk/seviriprepro) and developing further another one, specifically a land biosphere model named SimSphere (http://www.aber.ac.uk/simsphere) , also provided as open source. More details on the TRASNFORM-EO project outputs can be found at the project web site is http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/iges/research-groups/earth-observation-laboratory/research/transform-eo/
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Remote sensing provides the only viable solution for obtaining estimates of both surface fluxes and soil moisture content (SMC) at the spatiotemporal scales and accuracy levels required by many applications. Despite the wide range of methods available and the recognition by the space agencies globally for the necessity in estimating those parameters, global operational mapping of the above parameters from remote sensing is lacking or is underdeveloped, particularly so in Europe. Generally, these methods vary including also methods based on the information derived from a scatterplot developed between satellite-derived vegetation index (VI) and surface radiometric temperature (Ts) measures. The latter group also includes some approaches based on the combined use of a Ts/VI scatterplot with simulations from a biosphere model, specifically a Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) model, the so-called “triangle” method. The operational potential capability of the technique is seen and by the fact that variants of it are currently investigated in deriving operational products by Space agencies in both Europe (ESA) and United States (NPOESS).In TRANSFOrM-EO, recognising the gap that currently exists in the operational retrieval of both surface heat fluxes and Mo from remote sensing sensors as well as the strong relevance of the so-called Ts/VI-based “triangle” method to a number of key efforts ongoing for the operational retrieval of those parameters, we propose to develop a fundamental understanding of the ability of the “triangle” in deriving LE/H fluxes as well as of SMC. In addition, we aim to provide a first investigation of the ability of the technique in deriving the above parameters when using advanced technologically remote sensing sensors, specifically the EUMETSAT SEVIRI radiometer on-board the recently launched MSG-3 platform as well as of the GMES Sentinels 2 and 3 that have already been planned to be launched in 2013/2014.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY · AberystwythCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union