Validation of Sentinel-3 OLCI Integrated Water Vapor Products Using Regional GNSS Measurements in Crete, Greece
Water vapor is one of the essential variables in monitoring the Earth’s climate. The Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI) on-board the Copernicus Sentinel-3 missions measures the Integrated Water Vapor (IWV) column over land and ocean surfaces. Post-launch calibration and validation of satellite m...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/16/2606 |
| _version_ | 1827710023440007168 |
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| author | Stelios Mertikas Panagiotis Partsinevelos Achilleas Tripolitsiotis Costas Kokolakis George Petrakis Xenophon Frantzis |
| author_facet | Stelios Mertikas Panagiotis Partsinevelos Achilleas Tripolitsiotis Costas Kokolakis George Petrakis Xenophon Frantzis |
| author_sort | Stelios Mertikas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Water vapor is one of the essential variables in monitoring the Earth’s climate. The Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI) on-board the Copernicus Sentinel-3 missions measures the Integrated Water Vapor (IWV) column over land and ocean surfaces. Post-launch calibration and validation of satellite measurements constitutes a key process in the operational phase of Earth observation satellites. This work presents the external and independent validation of OLCI-A IWV product using the regional network of continuously operating Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) comprised 10 stations distributed over the island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean. The Sentinel-3A/-3B OLCI imagery that captures in a single scene the entire area of Crete has been examined. For each OLCI image, the IWV value of cloud-free pixels containing the GNSS stations have been derived and compared against simultaneous GNSS-derived measurements. The absolute as well as the relative bias between OLCI-A and OLCI-B IWV measurements have been determined. There is a good agreement between OLCI and GNSS with a bias of −0.57 mm ± 2.90 mm for OLCI(A) and +2.42 ± 3.41 mm for OLCI(B). The results of this regional validation activity are compared against other studies and the regular validation carried out at the Sentinel-3 Mission Performance Center. This work concludes that the accuracy of the OLCI IWV products is within its design requirements. The potential synergy between Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 IWV products is also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:32:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2c0bd84d2c094977a5fe2e67c8579275 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:32:22Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-2c0bd84d2c094977a5fe2e67c85792752023-11-20T09:58:28ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-08-011216260610.3390/rs12162606Validation of Sentinel-3 OLCI Integrated Water Vapor Products Using Regional GNSS Measurements in Crete, GreeceStelios Mertikas0Panagiotis Partsinevelos1Achilleas Tripolitsiotis2Costas Kokolakis3George Petrakis4Xenophon Frantzis5Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering Laboratory, Technical University of Crete, GR-73100 Chania, GreeceSenseLab Research, Technical University of Crete, GR-73100 Chania, GreeceSpace Geomatica P.C., Xanthoudidou 10A, GR-73132 Chania, GreeceSpace Geomatica P.C., Xanthoudidou 10A, GR-73132 Chania, GreeceSenseLab Research, Technical University of Crete, GR-73100 Chania, GreeceGeodesy and Geomatics Engineering Laboratory, Technical University of Crete, GR-73100 Chania, GreeceWater vapor is one of the essential variables in monitoring the Earth’s climate. The Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI) on-board the Copernicus Sentinel-3 missions measures the Integrated Water Vapor (IWV) column over land and ocean surfaces. Post-launch calibration and validation of satellite measurements constitutes a key process in the operational phase of Earth observation satellites. This work presents the external and independent validation of OLCI-A IWV product using the regional network of continuously operating Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) comprised 10 stations distributed over the island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean. The Sentinel-3A/-3B OLCI imagery that captures in a single scene the entire area of Crete has been examined. For each OLCI image, the IWV value of cloud-free pixels containing the GNSS stations have been derived and compared against simultaneous GNSS-derived measurements. The absolute as well as the relative bias between OLCI-A and OLCI-B IWV measurements have been determined. There is a good agreement between OLCI and GNSS with a bias of −0.57 mm ± 2.90 mm for OLCI(A) and +2.42 ± 3.41 mm for OLCI(B). The results of this regional validation activity are compared against other studies and the regular validation carried out at the Sentinel-3 Mission Performance Center. This work concludes that the accuracy of the OLCI IWV products is within its design requirements. The potential synergy between Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 IWV products is also discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/16/2606IWVvalidationGNSSCretefiducial reference measurements |
| spellingShingle | Stelios Mertikas Panagiotis Partsinevelos Achilleas Tripolitsiotis Costas Kokolakis George Petrakis Xenophon Frantzis Validation of Sentinel-3 OLCI Integrated Water Vapor Products Using Regional GNSS Measurements in Crete, Greece Remote Sensing IWV validation GNSS Crete fiducial reference measurements |
| title | Validation of Sentinel-3 OLCI Integrated Water Vapor Products Using Regional GNSS Measurements in Crete, Greece |
| title_full | Validation of Sentinel-3 OLCI Integrated Water Vapor Products Using Regional GNSS Measurements in Crete, Greece |
| title_fullStr | Validation of Sentinel-3 OLCI Integrated Water Vapor Products Using Regional GNSS Measurements in Crete, Greece |
| title_full_unstemmed | Validation of Sentinel-3 OLCI Integrated Water Vapor Products Using Regional GNSS Measurements in Crete, Greece |
| title_short | Validation of Sentinel-3 OLCI Integrated Water Vapor Products Using Regional GNSS Measurements in Crete, Greece |
| title_sort | validation of sentinel 3 olci integrated water vapor products using regional gnss measurements in crete greece |
| topic | IWV validation GNSS Crete fiducial reference measurements |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/16/2606 |
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