Machine Learning-Based Atmospheric Correction Based on Radiative Transfer Modeling Using Sentinel-2 MSI Data and Its Validation Focusing on Forest

Abstract

Compact Advanced Satellite 500-4 (CAS500-4) is scheduled to be launched to collect high spatial resolution data focusing on vegetation applications. To achieve this goal, accurate surface reflectance retrieval through atmospheric correction is crucial. Therefore, a machine learning-based atmospheric correction algorithm was developed to simulate atmospheric correction from a radiative transfer model using Sentinel-2 data that have similar spectral characteristics as CAS500-4. The algorithm was then evaluated mainly for forest areas. Utilizing the atmospheric correction parameters extracted from Sentinel-2 and GEOKOMPSAT-2A (GK-2A), the atmospheric correction algorithm was developed based on Random Forest and Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LGBM). Between the two machine learning techniques, LGBM performed better when considering both accuracy and efficiency. Except for one station, the results had a correlation coefficient of more than 0.91 and well-reflected temporal variations of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (i.e., vegetation phenology). GK-2A provides Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and water vapor, which are essential parameters for atmospheric correction, but additional processing should be required in the future to mitigate the problem caused by their many missing values. This study provided the basis for the atmospheric correction of CAS500-4 by developing a machine learning-based atmospheric correction simulation algorithm.