Publications

Mira, M; Gordillo, J; Gonzalez-Guerrero, O; Pons, X (2017). COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EMISSIVITY ESTIMATION METHODS IN THE THERMAL BAND OF THE LANDSAT-5 TM SENSOR. GEOFOCUS-REVISTA INTERNACIONAL DE CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGIA DE LA INFORMACION GEOGRAFICA(19), 55-80.

Abstract
The objective of this work is to compare the emissivity estimates corresponding to the thermal band of the Landsat-5 TM sensor obtained following the algorithms of Valor and Caselles (1996), Sobrino and Raissouni (2000) and Wittich (1997). Their evaluation through soil field measurements shows that they produce values within the ranges. Furthermore, the capability of TM to detect a significant increase of soils emissivity (up to 0.018) according to their water content is demonstrated. The study shows a discrepancy between the methods in emissivity estimates lower than 0.014, depending on the land cover type. An spatio-temporal analysis by thematic classes allows observing the seasonal changes of crops, reproduced in a similar way by the three methods. To conclude, the presented comparison highlights the importance of choosing both the algorithm to be applied and the correct definition of the input constants taking into account the spectral characteristics of the study area.

DOI:
10.21138/GF.512

ISSN:
1578-5157