Comparison of leaf area indices for grasslands within the alpine uplands based on multi-scale satellite data time series and radiation transfer modeling

Abstract

In this study, the Leaf area index (LAI) of the Ammer catchment in the Bavarian Alpine Upland has been derived with differing spatial resolutions using an improved radiation transfer modeling (RTM) algorithm and several original and synthetic remote sensing data sets. The spatial resolutions of the data sets range from 6.5 to 250 meters. The aim of this paper is to investigate the performance of the inverse RTM when applied to remote sensing data sets of differing spatial and temporal resolutions and to identify the adequate resolutions of remote sensing data for LAI retrieval in a heterogeneous landscape with regard to accuracy and effectiveness. All results are validated using in situ measurements.