An operational atmospheric correction algorithm for Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery over the land

Abstract

An operational atmospheric correction algorithm for Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery has been developed for both sequential and parallel computer environments considering both aerosol and molecular scattering and absorption. The aerosol optical depth is estimated from the image itself using the dark object approach on a moving‐window basis, and the surface reflectance is then retrieved by searching lookup tables that are created using a numerical radiative transfer code. The dark object pixels are identified and their surface reflectance estimated using TM channel 7 (2.1 μm). A variety of techniques are employed to improve computational efficiency. This method is validated by measured aerosol optical depth and extensive visual evaluations accompanied by statistical analysis. Results indicate that the approach is highly stable and useful for both qualitative imagery interpretation (haze removal) and quantitative analysis. Future research activities are also highlighted. The computer codes are available to the general scientific community.