AVHRR Land Pathfinder II (ALP II) data set: Evaluation and inter-comparison with other data sets

Abstract

A new processing chain was developed at the University of Maryland and NASA-GSFC for an improved AVHRR Land Pathfinder II (ALP II) data set. Most data sets derived from AVHRR sensor were created for specific applications and have used algorithms that have been improved or replaced in recent years. The understanding of many processes such as navigation, calibration and atmospheric water vapour absorption have increased, and can now be used to increase the quality of AVHRR data sets. The ALP II data set was compared with three data sets, the ALP I (8 km) and FASIR (1°×1°) data sets produced at NASA-GSFC, and LASUR (16 km) developed at CESBIO. This Letter describes evaluations of the initial 8 km AVHRR ALP II data set. This evaluation has shown a greater accuracy in atmospheric correction and temporal profiles for ALP II data set than the other AVHRR data sets.

Long-term Satellite NDVI Data Sets: Evaluating Their Ability to Detect Ecosystem Functional Changes in South America

“…The main difficulties of the NOAA-AVHRR series stem from navigation uncertainties, sensor degradation and calibration, atmospheric contamination, orbital drift and limited spectral and directional sampling, among others [26-30]. Nevertheless, in several comprehensive efforts to improve data quality, different NDVI data series have been produced since the nineties following different processing streams [27, 31]. The most commonly used series were the “Pathfinder AVHRR Land” (PAL I and II versions) [32-33], the “Global Inventory Monitoring and Modelling Studies” (GIMMS) [26, 34], and the “Fourier-Adjustment, Solar zenith angle corrected, Interpolated Reconstructed” (FASIR) [35-36].…”

Monitoring vegetation cover change using time series of remote sensing data in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, China

“…NOAA-AVHRR satellite time series data, with a data record for more than twenty years, is a mostly common used dataset [1][2][3][4] . Through processing AVHRR data series, several time-series products are produced including "Pathfinder AVHRR Land" (PAL I and II versions) [5,6] , the "Global Inventory Monitoring Modeling Studies" (GIMMS) [7,8] , and the "Fourier-Adjustment, Solar zenith angle corrected, Interpolated Reconstructed" (FASIR) [9,10] . Improved coarse-resolution global land surface satellite sensor data are available from SPOT-4's Vegetation instrument and NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometers (MODIS) on the Terra and Aqua platforms [11,12] .…”