Advances on Quantitative Remote Sensing of Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence

Dear Colleagues,

Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is rapidly becoming a relevant tool in remote sensing for characterizing the vegetation structure and dynamics from in-situ, ecosystem, regional, and global scale observations. The growing interest in SIF is prompted by the increasing availability of measurements from satellite (GOSAT, GOME-2, OCO-2, Sentinel-5P, TanSat and the upcoming ESA’s FLEX), airborne (HyPlant, Ibis, FireFly, etc.), and ground-based instruments. Relevant developments have also been made in the radiative transfer modeling of leaves and plant canopies, offering a theoretical understanding of the linkage between remote sensing observations with canopy characteristics and functioning. Although unprecedented developments have been made in the last decades, research that requires further attention includes improved instrumentations, ground-based measurement networks, advanced retrieval techniques, physical and process-based models, applications of SIF for vegetation primary productivity estimation, and plant disease studies.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present state-of-the-art research about technological and methodological developments on sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Articles covering but not limited to recent researches about the following topics are invited for this Special Issue:

• Novel sensor designs for detecting sun-induced fluorescence from ground-based drones and airborne and satellite platforms;
• Instrumental characterization protocols, noise reduction algorithms, and novel data processing aimed at improving accuracies in SIF retrieval;
• Quantitative methods for retrieving red, far-red, and full fluorescence spectrum based on terrestrial atmospheric absorption lines and Fraunhofer lines;
• Atmospheric correction algorithms for SIF retrieval from proximal and remote sensing;
• Physical, statistical, and machine learning methods;
• Novel radiative transfer models for leaves and canopies, including sun-induced fluorescence;
• Linking fluorescence measurement at different scales, from leaf to canopy and ecosystem;
• Studies making use of remote sensing data from multiple sources (satellite, airborne, drones, and field spectroscopy) are encouraged;
• Methodologies for calibration/validation of airborne and satellite remote sensing fluorescence observations and associated products;
• Usage of vegetation fluorescence information in agriculture and forestry and applications in quantifying vegetation stress and diseases;
• The use of sun-induced fluorescence to improve modelling of primary productivity and ecosystem and global scale;
• Innovative usage of sun-induced fluorescence information;
• Assimilation of sun-induced fluorescence into process-based models for monitoring the functional status of vegetation.

Dr. Sergio Cogliati
Dr. Luis Alonso
Dr. Feng Zhao
Guest Editors

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