Validating MODIS land surface reflectance and albedo products: methods and preliminary results

This paper presents the general methods and some preliminary results of validating Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface reflectance and albedo products using ground measurements and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) imagery. Since ground “point” measurements are not suitable for direct comparisons with MODIS pixels of about 1 km over heterogeneous landscapes, upscaling based on high-resolution remotely sensed imagery is critical. In this study, ground measurements at Beltsville, MD were used to calibrate land surface reflectance and albedo products derived from ETM+ imagery at 30 m, which were then aggregated to the MODIS resolution for determining the accuracy of the following land surface products: (1) bidirectional reflectance from atmospheric correction, (2) bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF), (3) broadband albedos, and (4) nadir BRDF-adjusted reflectance. The initial validation results from ground measurements and two ETM+ images acquired on October 2 and November 3, 2000 showed that these products are reasonably accurate, with typically less than 5% absolute error. Final conclusions on their accuracy depend on more validation results.