Helicopter MMR Reflectance: SNF Forest Canopy 1983-1984

The Superior National Forest (SNF) was the site for helicopter-mounted Barnes Multiband Radiometer (MMR) canopy reflectance measurements collected during the summers of 1983 and 1984. Data were acquired on ten dates in 1983 and eight in 1984, primarily at nadir view with some off-nadir measurements for bi-directional reflectance analysis. The summarized dataset includes site ID, observation counts, instrument altitude, time intervals, sun geometry, and reflectance values with standard deviations for multiple spectral bands.

Use Cases

• Calibrating satellite vegetation indices based on ground-truth spectral reflectance measurements.
• Modeling forest canopy bi-directional reflectance distribution functions (BRDF) using off-nadir view angle data from 1984.
• Assessing atmospheric scattering effects on aerial measurements using water target reflectance data from 1983.
• Analyzing temporal changes in canopy reflectance across 18 acquisition dates over two field seasons.

Strengths

• Contains data from 18 distinct acquisition dates (10 in 1983, 8 in 1984), providing temporal depth.
• Includes standard deviations for reflectance bands, indicating measurement precision is documented.
• Features both nadir and off-nadir view angles, enabling bi-directional reflectance analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata is missing: row count, column names, and specific spectral bands are not listed in the provided sources.
• Conflicting last-update dates exist between platforms (2026-04-10 on Data.gov vs. 1986-12-31 on NASA Earthdata).
• Water target measurements for atmospheric correction are only available for the 1983 campaign, not 1984.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Field campaign using a helicopter-mounted Barnes Multiband Radiometer (MMR) with simultaneous reference panel measurements.

Time Range

1983-1984

Freshness

2026-04-10 02:27:20.328186

Geography

Superior National Forest (SNF)