[Quantitative remote sensing retrieval of apple tree canopy reflectance at blossom stage in hilly area].

ABSTRACT

By using the TM and ALOS images with different resolutions at the prosperous blossom stage of apple trees in Qixia City of Shandong Province, and taking the slope aspect coefficient and the ratio of canopy flower to leaf into account, the ground surface reflectance was retrieved through radiometric correction. The canopy reflectance of the apple trees was further retrieved by pixel unmixing method, and the retrieval effect and accuracy were assessed by the comparison of the retrieved reflectance with the measured canopy reflectance and apparent reflectance of 30 sample apple orchards. The results showed that radiometric correction effectively weakened the effects of atmosphere and topography, recovered the ground objects in the shadows, and obviously enhanced the analytical ability of ground surface retrieval reflectance images. Either TM or ALOS images, both the absolute and relative errors between retrieval reflectance and measured reflectance of apple tree canopy were the smallest. The relative errors of all bands were consistent, and its variation trend among the 30 sample apple orchards was also consistent with the measured reflectance, which showed the necessary of pixel unmixing. Moreover, the changes of the reflectance among the sample apple orchards showed similar characteristics when the retrieval method was used for different resolution images. The images with high resolution were more superior, but, because of band limitation, it would be better to integrate the high resolution images with moderate resolution images.