Using Radiance Ratio as a

Proxy for Forest Canopy

Surface Roughness
Matthew McKinney
University of Miami
Dr. Susan Ustin
University of California Davis
Shane Grigsby
University of Colorado Boulder

I. Surface Roughness
The variations in height of surface
features over an area.

Surface roughness is connected to

important variables in forest ecology,
such as photosynthetic efficiency and
habitat types.

Related to the meteorological variable

called roughness length.
ThorLabs

e
s
e
t
m

g
e
e
R
:

where perfectly smooth surfaces are expected to display

RRa1
a2 = 1 (Ash = 0 at all angles), and increasingly rough
surfaces are expected to display RRa1
a2 values diverging
from unity, regardless of surface reflectivity (i.e., surface
composition).
The geometric sun surface sensor configuration determines the sign for the divergence of RRa1
a2 from unity for
increasingly rougher surfaces. For example, in the case
depicted in Fig. 1 RRa1=down-sun
is expected to increase with
a2=nadir

Shade
fraction
can
be used as a proxy
increasing roughness because while the denominator in Eq.

Quantifying Surface
Roughness

surface roughness.

A rough surface
illuminated by sunlight
will cast more shadows
than a smooth surface.
The amount of visible
shadow changes
depending on the view
angle.

t
t
s
n
y
t

to measure

This can be used to

estimate surface roughness.
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the stereoscopic approach for estimating
Figure 1 from Mushkin & Gillespie 2005

sub-pixel surface roughness. Under constant illumination conditions pixel

fan in the sou

measured
above
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at viewlighter
angle in
a, and
and S j
thus making
thethesurface
the sdown-sun
vegetation ma
angle
(Fig. 1). Such
lightening
is expected
to beradiance
proporare
atmospheric
transmissivity
(unitless)
and path
dependent
depends
% 2on view
% 1 angle. Ash(a) is thus inherently
a1
constrained l
tional
to
A
and
surface
roughness,
and
will
not
(Wm
sr
),
respectively.
RR
as
measured
from
an
sh(a
=
nadir)
a2
on the sun surface sensor geometry. For example, at
a1
accounts for le
occur for
smooth
surfaces
0). therefore
Furthermore,
airborne
orperfectly
spaceborne
sensor
(RR*seen
should
be
constant
illumination
conditions,
shadows
nadir
sh =
a2)(Aat
a1visible at a down-sun viewing angle,
of desert shru
viewing
will as:
not be
the ratio
(RR
expressed
a2) between two surface-reflected radiances
thus making the surface appear lighter in the down-sun
Raham fan. A
measured1).under
the
same
illumination
from
two view angles
j
* Such
angle (Fig. L
lightening
is
expected
to
be
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decreasing rou
a1 and
Mushkin
Gillespie
relatively
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and
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is
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tional
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and willratio
1 a to
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e : approximate
5
RRT
2
j Ratio, or RR.
roughness,
Radiance
playa deposits
occur for called
perfectly
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!(Ash ="0). Furthermore,
!
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S, Re 1 ! fshradiances
the ratio (RR
twosurface-reflected
a2) between Isol
a1
(1 m in hei
L

1
j
a
p
This
ratio
could
be
used
without
atmospheric
correction,
in
which
case
it
would
1
measured
illumination from
view angles
2
RRa2
where
s under
and Sthesame
are dependent
on"atwo
because
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"
!
!
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only
of
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path-length between
the
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I ! surface

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The
equation
reduces
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of
Isoladditive
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! fsha in

a. Although
the
Eq.
(5)
(i.e.,
S
)
can
be
L

relatively
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Assuming
with
a
(Lambertian
2
that
RR
radiance
(L)
as
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such as Fdark-object
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S
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are independent
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Assuming
does R
not
withcan
a (Lambertian
of a,( I solthat, SR,e and
Eq. (2)
be re-written as:
e ),change
they
require
calibration
againstthat
known
spectra
or re-scaling
reflection),
areThis
independent
fan (Gillespie
"and canceling
!out variables
ratio can also be expressed
of the
a,( I sol
, S1,using
and
R emodel-derived
),a1Eq.
as:a ratio of
of
data
approximations
of shade
s (a), such
! fsh
(2) can be re-written
with
fraction (fand
a1
sh) with grou
"
!
RR

3
"
!
a2
as acalculated
with MODTRAN (Ontar,
2001). ofHowever,
as a function
sensor or sun
1 !1fsh!
a fsha2
!
j
RRa "
3 j
after removal
the additive terms angle.
S a1 and S a2, Eq. (5) is
1 ! fsha of

3.3. Field mea

where perfectly
smooth surfaces are expected to display
reduced
to:
where
a1 perfectly smooth surfaces are expected to display
RRa1
= 0all atangles),
all angles),
and increasingly
rough
a2 = 1 (A
Multiplying
ratio of A portable
RR
= 0sh at
and increasingly
rough RR by the
a2 = 1 (Ash
s
a1

a1
1
a
a
1 are are
1to display
surfaces
expected
to RR
display
RRdiverging
diverging
surfaces
expected
atmospheric
transmissivity
)
a2 values
a2 values
RRT
RR
6 (scopic
a2
a2
imagin
s
from
unity,
regardless
of
surface
reflectivity
(i.e.,
surface

both angles
an absolute
from unity, 2 regardless of surface from
reflectivity
(i.e., gives
surface
can be fixed a
composition).
RR.
composition).
The geometric sun surface sensor configuration deter-

e / Remote Sensing of Environment 99 (2005) 75 83

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Calculate Radiance Ratio

1
2

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II. Methods
Calculating RR requires radiance data of the same
location from two view angles (sun angles) while
the sun angle (view angle) is constant.

For this project, the radiance data were taken from

MASTER flight lines 2 and 3 on June 24th, 2015.

MASTER Radiance Data

Pixel Size: 5m by 5m
Units: W/m2/sr/m (spectral radiance)

Covered wavelengths from 460nm to 12,750nm (VIS to IR).

Chose band 3 (550nm) to calculate RR.

Relative RR=Lline2/Lline3

Atmospheric
Transmissivity
Calculated with MODTRAN as a function of sensor
zenith angle for lines 2 and 3.

Take tau ratio: TR=(line2)/(line3)

Multiply to RR: RR*=TR*RR

Gives RR*, or absolute RR

What does RR mean?

Other variables are needed to compare against the
calculated RR values. A multiple linear regression is
required.

The sensor zenith angle for lines 2 and 3 is included

first, as it can influence readings directly.

The other variables represent different

characteristics of roughness.

Slope
Calculated from MASTER elevation array using
Matlab gradientm function.

Slope Units: Degrees Up from Horizontal.

Provides information on the shape of the land.

Local Radiance Range and Standard

Deviation
The local (3x3) range and standard deviation of
radiance values from band 3 of MASTER line 2.

Units: W/m2/sr/m

Provide a proxy for the local entropy of the radiance

data.

Principle Component
Albedo
Calculated in ENVI from MASTER line 2 radiance
data.

Units: None

Provides information on different surface types and

their distribution.

LiDAR Return Number

Metric
Metric relating NEON LiDAR outgoing pulses to
incoming pulses.
RNM=abs(ln(pixelsum(retnum/numrets)/numpoints))
Larger values mean more
surface irregularities that
split LiDAR pulses.
Provides another proxy for
surface irregularities.

LiDAR Elevation Variance

Calculated from LiDAR elevation data.

Units: Meters

Provides information on the terrain structure and

irregularities.

Simple Ratio LAI

Calculated as a ratio of MASTER band 10 (NIR) and
band 6 (Red) radiance values, without atmospheric
correction.

SR=RB10/RB6
Provides a crude estimation of LAI, which relates to
canopy structure.

Vegetation Height
Calculated from the same DSM and DTM files as
vegetation density.

Units: Meters

Provides information on canopy structure and

distribution.

Vegetation Density
Calculated from the vegetation height array, treating
pixels with height >0 as plants/trees.

Represents the number of plants/trees within a 20m

radius of each pixel.

Provides information on canopy structure and

distribution.

III. Correlation?
The calculated RR* was regressed against these
variables using the regress function in Matlab.

The best R2 value achieved was 0.2194 (or 0.2922

when outliers are excluded).

This is very low, considering the number of

variables included.

IV. Conclusions
The variables that contributed most to the linear regression
were the vegetation density, local radiance range, and simple
ratio LAI. These are all connected to canopy structure, which
shows promise for RR* as a proxy for canopy roughness.

The low R2 implies that there are other variables contributing

significantly to RR*, which were not included in the analysis.

These variables may not be related to structure as intuitively as

the ones included here.

V. Acknowledgements
Dr. Susan Ustin

Shane Grigsby

Sean Freeman

Dr. Emily Schaller

Land Group

Questions?

Taste the Atmospheric

Correction

ENVI Masking
Masked geographic lookup tables in ENVI to isolate
the overlap between 2 MASTER lines.

The overlapped area can now be pulled out with

another mask.