Ploton et al. (2026) Normalization of Sentinel 2 data over tropical forests to nadir BRDF adjusted reflectance

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing of Environment
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-21
• Authors: Pierre Ploton, Gaëlle Viennois, Florian de Boissieu, Erik Lindquist, Jean‐Baptiste Féret, Daniel Wiell, Hervé Poilvé, Pierre Couteron, Raphaël Pélissier, Nicolas Barbier
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2026.115583

Research Groups

• University of Central Africa
• European Space Agency (ESA)
• National Observatory for Tropical Forests (ONTF)

Short Summary

This study presents a sensor-adapted BRDF correction framework for Sentinel-2 imagery over dense tropical forests, achieving up to 70% reduction in mean relative percent absolute differences compared to uncorrected data.

Objective

• Investigate the feasibility of using Ross–Thick Li–Sparse (RTLS) models for BRDF correction on Sentinel-2 scale

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global, with a focus on central African forests and validation across continents
• Temporal Scale: Long-term monitoring, with data spanning multiple years

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Ross–Thick Li–Sparse (RTLS) models
• Data sources: Sentinel-2 imagery, MODIS-based correction models, spatiotemporally independent validation data

Main Results

• Up to 70% reduction in mean relative percent absolute differences compared to uncorrected data
• More than 50% improvement compared to MODIS-derived BRDF parameters
• Generalizability of proposed coefficients confirmed across continents

Contributions

• Original calibration approach for Sentinel-2–specific RTLS model parameters
• Distribution of tools as a Google Earth Engine script and an R package for operational use

Funding

• ESA's Climate Change Initiative (CCI)
• European Research Council (ERC) grant number 1010010123
• National Observatory for Tropical Forests (ONTF) internal funding

Citation

@article{Ploton2026Normalization,
  author = {Ploton, Pierre and Viennois, Gaëlle and Boissieu, Florian de and Lindquist, Erik and Féret, Jean‐Baptiste and Wiell, Daniel and Poilvé, Hervé and Couteron, Pierre and Pélissier, Raphaël and Barbier, Nicolas},
  title = {Normalization of Sentinel 2 data over tropical forests to nadir BRDF adjusted reflectance},
  journal = {Remote Sensing of Environment},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.rse.2026.115583},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2026.115583}
}