Radiative Transfer Model parametrization for simulating the reflectance of meadow vegetation

Natural vegetation is complex and its reflectance is not easy to model. The aim of this study was to adjust the Radiative Transfer Model parameters for modelling the reflectance of heterogeneous meadows and evaluate its accuracy dependent on the vegetation characteristics. PROSAIL input parameters and reference spectra were collected during field measurements. Two different datasets were created: in the first, the input parameters were modelled using only field measurements; in the second, three input parameters were adjusted to minimize the differences between modelled and measured spectra. Reflectance was modelled using two datasets and then verified based on field reflectance using the RMSE. The average RMSE for the first dataset was equal to 0.1058, the second was 0.0362. The accuracy of the simulated spectra was analysed dependent on the value of the biophysical parameters. Better results were obtained for meadows with higher biomass value, greater LAI and lower water content.