Computational study of atmospheric transfer radiation on an equatorial tropical desert (La Tatacoa, Colombia)

TL;DR

This paper presents a computational model to analyze atmospheric transfer radiation in La Tatacoa, Colombia, aiming to improve radiometric correction of satellite images in a tropical desert environment.

Contribution

It introduces a specific computational approach for atmospheric correction in an under-studied tropical desert region.

Findings

Model effectively estimates atmospheric attenuation between 300-1000nm.

Improves accuracy of satellite image correction in La Tatacoa.

Facilitates better land cover discrimination through enhanced atmospheric correction.

Abstract

Radiative transfer models explain and predict interaction between solar radiation and the different elements present in the atmosphere, which are responsible for energy attenuation. In Colombia there have been neither measurements nor studies of atmospheric components such as gases and aerosols that can cause turbidity and pollution. Therefore satellite images cannot be corrected radiometrically in a proper way. When a suitable atmospheric correction is carried out, loss of information is avoided, which may be useful for discriminating image land cover. In this work a computational model was used to find radiative atmospheric attenuation (300 1000nm wavelength region) on an equatorial tropical desert (La Tatacoa, Colombia) in order to conduct an adequate atmospheric correction.