A comparison between two radiative transfer models for atmospheric correction over a wide range of wavelengths

Abstract

Correction of atmospheric effects caused by molecular and particulate scattering and absorption from hyperspectral measurements is desirable whenever comparisons are to be made with data acquired under different atmospheric or viewing conditions. Absolute atmospheric correction of optical remotely sensed data relies on Radiative Transfer Codes (RTCs) capable of simulating interactions between the radiation and the medium. Several RTCs are available with different features, but the two most widely used nowadays are the Second Simulation of Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6S) and the MODerate-Resolution TRANsmittance Code (MODTRAN). In this paper, we perform a comparison between these two models and report the results obtained, specifically investigating the differences that emerged during the various test stages.

Acknowledegments

The authors wish to thank the following for useful discussions: Claudia Giardino at the National Council of Research in Milan, and Paolo Colandrea, Lucia Tampellini and Raffaella Ratti at Carlo Gavazzi Space in Milan. This work was partly funded by the ‘HYPER-I-NET’ FP6 Marie Curie Research Training Network thanks to the support of Prof. Paolo Gamba at the University of Pavia unit.