Atmospheric correction for the monitoring of land surfaces

This paper briefly describes the land surface reflectance product (MOD09), the current Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) atmospheric correction (AC) algorithm and its recent updates, and provides the evaluation of the algorithm performance and product quality. The accuracy of the AC algorithm has been significantly improved owing to the use of the accurate Second Simulation of a Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum, Vector (6SV) radiative transfer code and a better retrieval of aerosol properties by a refined internal aerosol inversion algorithm. The Collection 5 MOD09 surface reflectance product computed by the improved AC algorithm was analyzed for the year of 2003 through the comparison with a reference data set created with the help of Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) measurements and the 6SV code simulations. In general, the MOD09 product demonstrated satisfactory quality in all used MODIS bands except for band 3 (470 nm), which is used for aerosol inversion. The impact of uncertainties in MOD09 upon the downstream product, such as vegetation indices and albedo, was also evaluated.