A novel approach to solve forward/inverse problems in remote sensing applications

Knut Stamnes, Wei Li, Snorre Stamnes, Yongxiang Hu, Yingzhen Zhou, Nan Chen, Yongzhen Fan, Børge Hamre, Xiaomei Lu, Yuping Huang, Carl Weimer, Jennifer Lee, Xubin Zeng, Jakob Stamnes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Inversion of electromagnetic (EM) signals reflected from or transmitted through a medium, or emitted by it due to internal sources can be used to investigate the optical and physical properties of a variety of scattering/absorbing/emitting materials. Such media encompass planetary atmospheres and surfaces (including water/snow/ice), and plant canopies. In many situations the signals emerging from such media can be described by a linear transport equation which in the case of EM radiation is the radiative transfer equation (RTE). Solutions of the RTE can be used as a forward model to solve the inverse problem to determine the medium state parameters giving rise to the emergent (reflected/transmitted/emitted) EM signals. A novel method is developed to determine layer-by-layer contributions to the emergent signals from such stratified, multilayered media based on the solution of the pertinent RTE. As a specific example of how this approach may be applied, the radiation reflected from a multilayered atmosphere is used to solve the problem relevant for EM probing by a space-based lidar system. The solutions agree with those obtained using the standard lidar approach for situations in which single scattering prevails, but this novel approach also yields reliable results for optically thick, multiple scattering aerosol and cloud layers that cannot be provided by the traditional lidar approach.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1025447
JournalFrontiers in Remote Sensing
Volume3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022

Keywords

  • forward modeling
  • integration of the source function
  • inverse methods
  • multiple scattering effects
  • radar
  • space lidar

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