Recent Progress in Quantitative Land Remote Sensing in China

Abstract

During the past forty years, since the first book with a title mentioning quantitative and remote sensing was published [1], quantitative land remote sensing has advanced dramatically, and numerous books have been published since then [2,3,4,5,6] although some of them did not use quantitative land remote sensing in their titles. Quantitative land remote sensing has not been explicitly defined in the literature, but we consider it as a sub-discipline of remote sensing including the following components (see Figure 1): radiometric preprocessing, inversion, high-level product generation, and applications. Many inversion algorithms rely on physical models of radiation regimes of landscapes, which link with remotely-sensed data. Generating high-level satellite products of land surface biophysical and biochemical variables create the key bridge between remote sensing science and applications. Conducting in situ measurements for validation of inversion algorithms and satellite products is also a critical component. Application of satellite products to address scientific and societal relevant issues will ultimately decide the future of quantitative land remote sensing.