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Table 3 Precision and accuracy of main remotely-sensed derived products

From: Opportunities for the application of advanced remotely-sensed data in ecological studies of terrestrial animal movement

Product

Sources

Precision

Accuracy

Land cover

NLCD (National Land Cover Database): developed from Landsat 30-m pixel; available for 1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011. U.S. only.

20 classes

78 and 79% for latest products [117]

 

CORINE: developed from Landsat, Spot, and recently higher resolution imagery; available for 1990, 2000, 2006, 2012. Minimum mapping unit/with 25 ha/ 100 m.

44 classes

8% (for 2000 version) [131]

 

MODIS Land Cover: available for 2001–2012, 500-m pixel resolution

17 classes

75% [132]

 

GlobCover: based on 300-m pixel resolution imagery from MERIS sensor (ENVISAT), available for 2005–06 and 2009.

23 classes

58-79% [133]

Terrain (elevation)

SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission): 30-m and 90-m pixel resolution

16-bit

Geolocation error = 9.8 meters; absolute height error = 6.9 meters; relative height error = 7.0 meters [134]

 

ASTER Global Digital Evalation Map: 30-m pixel

16-bit

Overall accuracy ~17 meters [135]

 

TanDem-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement): provides elevation data <12-m pixel resolution; launched in 2010.

16-bit

<2 m height accuracy [136]

Climate/Weather

MODIS Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity: available daily, 8-day, and monthly, at 1-km, 5.6-km resolutions.

8-bit and 16-bit

0.5 K to 1 K [132]

 

TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission): 16 times per day, multiple products describing rainfall at 2.4 km and 5-km pixel resolution

na

TRMM Precipitation Radar instrument is able to detect fairly light rain rates down to about .0.7 mm per hour.

 

MODIS Cloud Product: daily product of cloud properties at 1-km and 5-km pixel resolution.

na

na

Phenology

MODIS Global Vegetation Phenology product (MCD12Q2): provides estimates of the timing of vegetation phenology at 500-m pixel resolution. MCD12Q2 is produced once a year with 24 months of input data, available from 2001 through 2012

16-bit

Consistent with in-situ measurements [137]

 

SPOT Vegetation: provides NDVI global data since 1998 at a 1.15-km pixel resolution

na

na

 

MODIS Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) product (MOD17A2): 8-day composite at 1-km spatial resolution

8-bit and 16-bit

Annual estimates of GPP are within 10.4% of average published results [132]

 

MODIS Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fractional Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR): 8-day composite at 1-km spatial resolution

8-bit

Accuracy is 0.66 LAI units RMSE and 0.12 FPAR units RMSE respectively [132]

  1. Note: The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) extends and improves the measurements initiated by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). na: no information.