Accurate Conversion of Land Surface Reflectance for Drone-Based Multispectral Remote Sensing Images Using a Solar Radiation Component Separation Approach

Land surface reflectance is a basic physical parameter in many quantitative remote sensing models. However, the existing reflectance conversion techniques for drone-based (or UAV-based) remote sensing need further improvement and optimization due to either cumbersome operational procedures or inaccu...

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Main Authors: Huasheng Sun, Lei Guo, Yuan Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/8/2604
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author Huasheng Sun
Lei Guo
Yuan Zhang
author_facet Huasheng Sun
Lei Guo
Yuan Zhang
author_sort Huasheng Sun
collection DOAJ
description Land surface reflectance is a basic physical parameter in many quantitative remote sensing models. However, the existing reflectance conversion techniques for drone-based (or UAV-based) remote sensing need further improvement and optimization due to either cumbersome operational procedures or inaccurate results. To tackle this problem, this study proposes a novel method to mathematically implement the separation of direct and scattering radiation using a self-developed multi-angle light intensity device. The verification results from practical experiments demonstrate that the proposed method has strong adaptability, as it can obtain accurate surface reflectance even under complicated conditions where both illumination intensity and component change simultaneously. Among the six selected typical land cover types (i.e., lake water, slab stone, shrub, green grass, red grass, and dry grass), green grass has the highest error among the five multispectral bands with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.59%. For all land cover types, the highest MAE of 1.01% is found in the red band. The above validation results indicate that the proposed land surface reflectance conversion method has considerably high accuracy. Therefore, the study results may provide valuable references for quantitative remote sensing applications of drone-based multispectral data, as well as the design of future multispectral drones.
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spelling doaj-art-2e05cbc1eafd4ce1920e342b6f4f9cbf2025-08-20T02:18:01ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-04-01258260410.3390/s25082604Accurate Conversion of Land Surface Reflectance for Drone-Based Multispectral Remote Sensing Images Using a Solar Radiation Component Separation ApproachHuasheng Sun0Lei Guo1Yuan Zhang2Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation and Environmental Protection, School of Resources and Environment, Linyi University, Linyi 276000, ChinaShandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation and Environmental Protection, School of Resources and Environment, Linyi University, Linyi 276000, ChinaSchool of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, ChinaLand surface reflectance is a basic physical parameter in many quantitative remote sensing models. However, the existing reflectance conversion techniques for drone-based (or UAV-based) remote sensing need further improvement and optimization due to either cumbersome operational procedures or inaccurate results. To tackle this problem, this study proposes a novel method to mathematically implement the separation of direct and scattering radiation using a self-developed multi-angle light intensity device. The verification results from practical experiments demonstrate that the proposed method has strong adaptability, as it can obtain accurate surface reflectance even under complicated conditions where both illumination intensity and component change simultaneously. Among the six selected typical land cover types (i.e., lake water, slab stone, shrub, green grass, red grass, and dry grass), green grass has the highest error among the five multispectral bands with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.59%. For all land cover types, the highest MAE of 1.01% is found in the red band. The above validation results indicate that the proposed land surface reflectance conversion method has considerably high accuracy. Therefore, the study results may provide valuable references for quantitative remote sensing applications of drone-based multispectral data, as well as the design of future multispectral drones.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/8/2604drone-based remote sensingmultispectral imagesland surface reflectancedirect and scattering radiationsolar radiation component separation
spellingShingle Huasheng Sun
Lei Guo
Yuan Zhang
Accurate Conversion of Land Surface Reflectance for Drone-Based Multispectral Remote Sensing Images Using a Solar Radiation Component Separation Approach
Sensors
drone-based remote sensing
multispectral images
land surface reflectance
direct and scattering radiation
solar radiation component separation
title Accurate Conversion of Land Surface Reflectance for Drone-Based Multispectral Remote Sensing Images Using a Solar Radiation Component Separation Approach
title_full Accurate Conversion of Land Surface Reflectance for Drone-Based Multispectral Remote Sensing Images Using a Solar Radiation Component Separation Approach
title_fullStr Accurate Conversion of Land Surface Reflectance for Drone-Based Multispectral Remote Sensing Images Using a Solar Radiation Component Separation Approach
title_full_unstemmed Accurate Conversion of Land Surface Reflectance for Drone-Based Multispectral Remote Sensing Images Using a Solar Radiation Component Separation Approach
title_short Accurate Conversion of Land Surface Reflectance for Drone-Based Multispectral Remote Sensing Images Using a Solar Radiation Component Separation Approach
title_sort accurate conversion of land surface reflectance for drone based multispectral remote sensing images using a solar radiation component separation approach
topic drone-based remote sensing
multispectral images
land surface reflectance
direct and scattering radiation
solar radiation component separation
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/8/2604
work_keys_str_mv AT huashengsun accurateconversionoflandsurfacereflectancefordronebasedmultispectralremotesensingimagesusingasolarradiationcomponentseparationapproach
AT leiguo accurateconversionoflandsurfacereflectancefordronebasedmultispectralremotesensingimagesusingasolarradiationcomponentseparationapproach
AT yuanzhang accurateconversionoflandsurfacereflectancefordronebasedmultispectralremotesensingimagesusingasolarradiationcomponentseparationapproach