PARABOLA Data (FIFE)

The Surface Reflectances Measured by the PARABOLA Data Set contains measurements from the Portable Apparatus or Rapid Acquisitions of Bi-directional Observations of Land and Atmosphere (PARABOLA) instrument. The focus of this research was to characterize the variation in vegetation reflectance as a function of solar and sensor viewing geometry, wavelength, and plant canopy biophysical characteristics. An understanding of these relationships is necessary for meaningful biophysical and ecological interpretations of measurements acquired from airborne and satellite sensors. The PARABOLA is able to measure these variations in reflectance because it measures at different viewing angles and at 3 spectral bands. The data are averaged reflectance factors of the Konza Prairie at different view angles and at 3 wavelength bands throughout the day. PARABOLA measurements were made during each of the 5 FIFE Intensive Field Campaigns from five locations within the FIFE study area.