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International Journal of Remote Sensing

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The empirical line method for the atmospheric

correction of IKONOS imagery
a a
E. Karpouzli & T. Malthus
a
Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh, EH8
9XP, UK
Published online: 26 Nov 2010.

To cite this article: E. Karpouzli & T. Malthus (2003) The empirical line method for the atmospheric correction of IKONOS
imagery, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 24:5, 1143-1150, DOI: 10.1080/0143116021000026779

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 . .  , 2003, . 24, . 5, 1143–1150

The empirical line method for the atmospheric correction of IKONOS

imagery

E. KARPOUZLI* and T. MALTHUS†

Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street,
Edinburgh EH8 9XP, UK

(Received 9 July 2001; in final form 13 August 2002)

Abstract. The empirical line method is an atmospheric correction technique that

provides an alternative to radiative transfer modelling approaches. It offers a
relatively simple means of surface reflectance calibration, providing that a series
of invariant-in-time calibration target measurements are available. This technique
has been applied with variable success to both airborne data and coarser spatial
resolution satellite sensor data. However, with the advent of higher spatial
resolution space-borne sensors there is a need to re-evaluate its potential. The
empirical line method was tested for correcting multispectral IKONOS imagery
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acquired over the tropical island of San Andres, Colombia. The high spatial
resolution (4 m) of the data made it possible to identify a number of homogeneous
targets with a range of reflectances that were used for the calibration. Coefficients
of determination of the prediction equations observed were large, ranging from
0.96–0.99 for each of the four wavebands. An accuracy assessment was performed
using a set of independent targets. It demonstrated that the empirical line method
can be applied to correct such imagery with accurate results.

1. Introduction
The effects of atmospheric scattering and absorption must be removed from
satellite remotely sensed data if such images are to be used quantitatively, either on
their own or within a temporal data set to detect environmental change. Atmospheric
effects add to or diminish true ground leaving radiance, and act variably across the
optical spectrum. Their removal is particularly important for marine applications
due to the proportionately greater contribution to at-sensor received radiance over
water targets (e.g. Gordon 1997, Gordon et al. 1997).
A number of methods exist to account for the influence of the atmosphere on
sensor-recorded radiance, including the dark pixel or histogram method (e.g. Chavez
1996), covariance matrix method and radiative transfer models like MODTRAN
(e.g. Ferrier 1995), EXACT (Popp 1995), and 6S (Vermote et al. 1997). Whilst
radiative transfer models may be the preferred method, their input parameters often
prove difficult to obtain accurately, especially when dealing with historical datasets.
Other methods include empirical relationships between radiance and reflectance,

* e-mail: [email protected]
† e-mail: [email protected]
International Journal of Remote Sensing
ISSN 0143-1161 print/ISSN 1366-5901 online © 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/0143116021000026779
 1144 E. Karpouzli and T . Malthus

such as the empirical line method (e.g. Ferrier 1995, Smith and Milton 1999).
However, to date this method has been applied only to the relatively short atmo-
spheric thicknesses of airborne data for the principal reason that it requires the
identification of at least two homogeneous targets of contrasting reflectances that
are large enough to be resolved (Perry et al. 2000). It is difficult to find such areas
at spatial resolutions suitable for calibrating spaceborne images with pixel sizes of
tens of metres such as Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Système Probatoire
d’Observation de la Terre (SPOT). However, with the advent of satellite sensors
capable of measurement at a much higher spatial resolution (e.g. 1 to 5 m pixel size,
such as IKONOS and QuickBird2) there is now the potential for applying this
technique to spaceborne data. A test of this method for the longer atmospheric
pathlengths of satellite sensor data is warranted.
In this research, the empirical line method was tested for its ability to atmospheric-
ally correct an IKONOS image acquired over the Caribbean island of San Andres.
This method offers a relatively simple means of surface reflectance calibration,
provided that a series of invariant-in-time calibration target measurements are avail-
able (Teillet et al. 1990, Smith and Milton 1999). Although it can be performed using
just two calibration targets, the use of more targets allows the parameters of the
relationship between at-sensor radiance and at-surface reflectance to be estimated
with greater confidence; there is evidence that acceptable results can be obtained
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using four calibration targets or more (Price et al. 1995, Smith and Milton 1999).

2. Methods
An IKONOS multispectral (4 m) image was acquired over the island of San
Andres (Colombia) in the Western Caribbean Sea, on 9 September 2000, at 10:33 am
local time (figure 1). These data were already radiometrically corrected from digital
numbers (DN) to in-band radiance physical units (mW cm−2 sr−1). Subsequently
the image was geometrically corrected using Ground Control Points (average RMS:
0.87 m). The high spatial resolution of the data made it possible to identify several
suitable targets on the island to implement the empirical line method.
In situ reflectance measurements were made between 1 and 10 September 2000.
Measurements were performed between 10:00 and 13:00 hours local time under
conditions of scattered cumulus cloud or clear skies. Nine calibration targets were
used (figure 1), and for accuracy assessment purposes a further five validation targets
were identified and measured (table 2). The criteria for the selection of both calib-
ration and validation targets, following Smith and Milton (1999), and Che and Price
(1992), were:
$ Areas as spectrally homogeneous as possible, preferably Lambertian and
horizontal.
$ Areas of a range of reflectances and preferably devoid of vegetation.
$ Areas of a size at least three times the IKONOS pixel size, i.e. at least 12×12 m.
The last criterion was not always easy to meet. In cases of ‘elongated’ targets like
roads or beaches one dimension was typically less than three times the IKONOS
pixel size (i.e. 8–10 m wide).
The targets selected ranged from dark reflectance targets such as black asphalt
and deep water, to bright reflective ones like sand, light soil, and concrete (table 1).
To increase the sample a number of intermediate but less ideal calibration targets
were included, such as areas of different grass species or grass under different
 Remote Sensing L etters 1145
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Figure 1. IKONOS multispectral image of the island of San Andres, Colombia, and position
of calibration targets used for its atmospheric correction.

management practices. Since the ground measurements were made within 9 days of
the acquisition of the IKONOS image, the vegetated targets were believed to be
invariant in time (CORALINA Institute, San Andres, personal communication,
2000).
Reflectance measurements for each of the calibration/validation targets were
made using a GER 1500@ spectroradiometer, (300–1100 nm, nominal dispersion
1.5 nm, spectral resolution: 3 nm). A single sensor head was used fitted with a 15°
lens giving a footprint of approximately 16 cm diameter. References to incident
 1146 E. Karpouzli and T . Malthus

Table 1. Description of targets used for the atmospheric correction of the IKONOS image,
and mean coefficients of variation (COV) between spectra averaged.

Calibration
target COV
identification Description (%)

1 White coraline sand on beach 8.86

2 White coraline sand on beach 6.62
3 Light coloured soil ~50–60% sand at football ground 7.50
4 Darker soil ~40% sand at football ground 6.35
5 Red coloured soil at baseball ground 11.52
6 New asphalt on main road outside airport, no road markings 12.16
7 80% cover irrigated short turf at baseball pitch, regularly cut, 11.39
dominated by clover
8 80% cover tall grass, non-irrigated part of baseball pitch, uncut 21.00
9 Over deep water (>90 m depth) 15.86

Table 2. Description of targets used for validation of the atmospheric correction of the
IKONOS image and mean coefficients of variation (COV) between spectra averaged.

Validation
target COV
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identification Description (%)

1 95% cover short dense turf in handball pitch 21.05

2 Old asphalt on main road, no road markings 15.56
3 70% cover short grass and occasional sedges in handball pitch 12.40
4 White coraline sand on the beach 8.86
5 New road asphalt, some bright road markings 9.38

irradiance over a calibrated SpectralonTM panel were obtained for every 3–10 target
measurements, the frequency depending on the degree and change of cloud cover at
the time of the measurement.
Between 15 and 60 spectra were taken for each target depending on the variation
visible within the target. Although an effort was made to identify visibly homo-
geneous targets, some heterogeneity existed, especially within vegetation targets
(e.g. in density). In such cases, a larger number of spectra were measured and
averaged to account for their spatial variation (Milton et al. 1997).
A Garmin 100 SRVY II GPS, operated in non-differential mode (Selective
Availability turned off ), was used in the averaging setting for at least 10 min to
estimate the centre position of each target (Garmin 1993). The spectral data were
processed to absolute reflectance. From the averaged reflectance spectra for each
target the reflectance values for the IKONOS bandwidths were calculated using
filter functions based on the sensor response curves provided by Space Imaging Inc.,
Thorton, Colorado.

3. Results and discussion

The averaged reflectance spectra for each of the targets show a good range of
measured reflectances across all wavelengths (figure 2). Coefficients of variation for
the calibration targets ranged from approximately 6% to 21%, with the tall grass
target showing the greatest heterogeneity (table 1)
 Remote Sensing L etters 1147

Table 3. Comparison of validation target IKONOS band reflectances (%), predicted from
the empirical line relationships in figure 3, and their calculated actual band reflectances.

IKONOS band

Validation Blue Green

target
identification Predicted Actual DiVerence Predicted Actual DiVerence

1 6.3 6.3 0 10.2 9.5 0.6

2 8.3 5.9 2.4 8.2 6.2 2
3 8.1 6.4 1.8 12 10 2
4 49 48.1 0.9 56.5 55.8 0.7
5 7.1 8.5 −1.4 7.1 9 −1.8

IKONOS band

Validation Red NIR

target
identification Predicted Actual DiVerence Predicted Actual DiVerence

1 9.8 8.9 0.9 39.4 39 0.4

2 9 6.4 2.6 8.5 6.6 1.9
3 13.6 10.8 2.7 35.9 36.1 −0.3
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4 66.6 65.7 0.9 68.6 71.1 −2.4

5 8.4 9.2 −0.8 8.1 9.6 −1.5

Figure 2. Averaged reflectance spectra for the San Andres calibration targets. Target numbers
correspond to target descriptions in table 1.

Radiance values recorded by the sensor were extracted from the image by
averaging the values of 1–3 pure pixels associated with each calibration target
(Smith and Milton 1999). These values in each band were plotted against the
corresponding ground reflectances for the calibration targets, and linear regression
 1148 E. Karpouzli and T . Malthus

was used to derive a set of four prediction equations for the image, one for each
waveband (figure 3).
The coefficients of determination for the three visible bands were all greater than
0.97, and for the near-infrared band was 0.96. In general, the relationships found
were near linear, which agrees with the findings of Stow et al. (1996) who used four
calibration targets covering a wide range of reflectance values, to correct multispectral
imagery from an airborne digital camera.
The interception of the calibration lines with the x-axis represents the atmospheric
path radiance (Smith and Milton 1999). As can be observed from the individual
plots the path radiance was greatest for the blue band and decreased with increasing
band wavelength, due to greater scattering by the atmosphere. The slopes of the
calibration lines represent the atmospheric attenuation.
The prediction equations were applied to each band of the original geometrically
corrected image of the island, to produce a new dataset calibrated to absolute
reflectance units. To assess the error in the empirical relationships derived, the five
validation targets were used. The reflectance values for each target for each IKONOS
band were calculated from the ground spectral measurements in the same way as
for the calibration targets, and image reflectances were derived for corresponding
pixels from the calibrated image (1–3 pure pixels). Overall, estimated reflectances
were within ±3 reflectance units of actual reflectances.
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4. Conclusions
Although the validation and calibration targets used in the study were similar in
nature, the large correlation coefficients observed between at-sensor radiance and
ground reflectance for the four IKONOS wavebands and the independent error
assessment demonstrates that the empirical line method can be applied to correct
IKONOS imagery with highly satisfactory results. The increased spatial resolution
of this sensor made it possible to identify a large number of natural targets that
were sufficiently homogeneous and larger then 2 to 4 times that of the pixel size.
When such empirical methods are applied it is essential to ensure that certain
conditions are met, especially if there are no validation data to assess how well the
empirical model has performed. The calibration targets used must be selected care-
fully to cover the whole range of reflectances, to be of an appropriate size in respect
to the pixel size of the imagery and have as much as possible near-Lambertian
properties. To ensure that a wide range of reflectances are measured and to reduce
extrapolation beyond the calibration data, preliminary spectral measurements should
be made before final selection of the targets. If ground measurements cannot be
made concurrent with the image acquisition then the targets should be spectrally
stable in time.
The empirical line method assumes that the effects of the atmosphere are uniform
across the image, which is often not the case and that there are no differences in
illumination across the image, i.e. due to shadows from topography or clouds (Smith
and Milton 1999). For this study area the calibration targets were all within the
scene to be corrected and the small coverage of the imagery suggests that spatial
variation of the atmosphere would be small. Whilst some cloud shadowing was
present, topographic shadowing was less of an issue in this low-lying terrain.
Unlike Ferrier (1995) who reported disappointing results when using the empirical
line method to atmospherically correct AVIRIS imagery (attributed to inaccuracies
in locating the targets on the image), both Price et al. (1995) and Smith and Milton
Downloaded by [Duke University Libraries] at 13:26 07 August 2013

Remote Sensing L etters

1149
Figure 3. Regression lines and prediction equations using nine calibration targets for each of the IKONOS bands.
 1150 Remote Sensing L etters

(1999) reported accurate results when correcting CASI imagery, with errors of only
a few per cent with two to four calibration targets. The results reported here suggest
that this error can be reduced further when using a greater number of calibration
targets. Ferrier (1995) suggested that target height differences (of about 110 m) were
possible reasons for errors being introduced. In the case of our dataset all targets
were at sea level, which may have led to the increased correlations derived.

Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Darwin Initiative, Onassis Foundation,
Carnegie Trust, the University of Edinburgh, Reef UK and the Moray Development
Fund. It was conducted in collaboration with CORALINA in San Andres. The
assistance of several colleagues during fieldwork is gratefully acknowledged. The
spectroradiometer was obtained on loan from the Natural Environment Research
Council Equipment Pool for Field Spectroscopy, UK.

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