Test site characterization and model development for sensor intercomparison: Algodones Dunes

A campaign was held 9-13 March 2015 at the Algodones Dunes in southern California to collect ground-based and airborne measurements to provide spectral, spatial, and topographical information for developing a model of the test site to refine inter-calibration of Earth-observing satellite sensors. Ground-based measurements will produce surface reflectance of plot sizes in the 10-100 m scale with uncertainty of 1.6%. Associated ground-based atmospheric measurements will provide aerosol information so that radiative transfer code can be used to compare and scale ground measurements to coincident airborne and satellite acquisitions. Airborne measurements using imaging spectrometer and lidar will produce high-resolution imagery and 3D topography on the 5-20 km scale. To complement large-area mapping of the test site, data from grid-pattern flight lines will be used to create spectral BRDF model of the test site. This work will describe the ground-based and airborne measurements of this campaign, test site model development, and example satellite sensor inter-calibration results using Landsat and VIIRS.