Atmospheric spectral attenuation of airborne remote-sensing data Comparison between experimental and theoretical approach

Remotely sensed data acquired at three different altitudes during a flight performed in August 1980 in the eastern part of The Netherlands provided an opportunity to study the atmospheric influence in the visible and near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Analyses of the data showed an unexpectedly great atmospheric effect in view of the excellent weather conditions during the flight. Furthermore, a relatively high increase of the path radiance in the near-infrared was found. By means of modelling the atmospheric trans-mittance, the influence of the atmosphere has been analysed. Scattering by aerosols and absorption by water vapour are the predominant contributions in this respect. To achieve a correction for the atmospheric effect on remotely sensed data, the method described can be used as a first approach but it can be considerably improved by determining or measuring a number of atmospheric parameters, such as water-vapour content and aerosol size distribution. The use of an airborne sky-sensor is recommended.