Ground-Based Correction of Remote-Sensing Spectral Imagery

Software has been developed for an improved method of correcting for the atmospheric optical effects (primarily, effects of aerosols and water vapor) in spectral images of the surface of the Earth acquired by airborne and spaceborne remote-sensing instruments. In this method, the variables needed for the corrections are extracted from the readings of a radiometer located on the ground in the vicinity of the scene of interest. The software includes algorithms that analyze measurement data acquired from a shadow-band radiometer. These algorithms are based on a prior radiation transport software model, called MODTRAN™, that has been developed through several versions up to what are now known as MODTRAN4™ and MODTRAN5™. These components have been integrated with a user-friendly Interactive Data Language (IDL) front end and an advanced version of MODTRAN4™. Software tools for handling general data formats, performing a Langley type calibration, and generating an output file of retrieved atmospheric parameters for use in another atmospheric- correction computer program known as "FLAASH" have also been incorporated into the present software. Concomitantly with the software described thus far, there has been developed a version of FLAASH that utilizes the retrieved atmospheric parameters to process spectral image data.