Journal Article

FZJ-2026-00273

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Spectral Unmixing of Airborne and Ground-Based Imaging Spectroscopy for Pigment-Specific FAPAR and Sun-Induced Fluorescence Interpretation

Pascual-Venteo, A. B. (Corresponding author) ; Pérez-Suay, A. ; Morata, M. ; Moncholí, A. ; Cendrero-Mateo, M. P. ; Servera, J. V. ; Siegmann, B.FZJ* ; Van Wittenberghe, S.

2026
MDPI Basel

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.3390/rs18010146  doi:10.34734/FZJ-2026-00273

Abstract: Accurate quantification of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by chlorophyll (𝑓𝐴𝑃𝐴𝑅𝐶ℎ𝑙𝑎) and the corresponding fluorescence quantum efficiency (FQE) is critical for understanding vegetation productivity. In this study, we investigate the retrieval of pigment-specific effective absorbance and Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) using both airborne hyperspectral imagery (HyPlant) and ground-based field spectroscopy (FloX) over a well-irrigated alfalfa field in northeastern Spain. Spectral unmixing techniques, including Constrained Least Squares (CLS), Potential Function (POT), and Bilinear (BIL) models, were applied to disentangle pigment and background contributions. The CLS approach was identified as the most robust, balancing reconstruction accuracy with physical plausibility. We derived 𝑓𝐴𝑃𝐴𝑅𝐶ℎ𝑙𝑎from the abundance-weighted pigment absorbance and combined it with spectrally-integrated SIF to calculate FQE. Comparisons between airborne and ground-based measurements revealed strong agreement, highlighting the potential of this combined methodology. The study demonstrates the applicability of advanced spectral unmixing frameworks for both airborne and proximal sensing data, providing a reliable baseline for photosynthetic efficiency in a healthy crop and establishing a foundation for future stress detection studies.

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. Pflanzenwissenschaften (IBG-2)

Research Program(s):

1. 2173 - Agro-biogeosystems: controls, feedbacks and impact (POF4-217) (POF4-217)

Appears in the scientific report 2026

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