Pascual-Venteo et al. (2026) Spectral Unmixing of Airborne and Ground-Based Imaging Spectroscopy for Pigment-Specific FAPAR and Sun-Induced Fluorescence Interpretation

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Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-01
• Authors: Ana B. Pascual-Venteo, Adrián Pérez-Suay, M. Morata, Adrián Moncholí, Maria Pilar Cendrero-Mateo, Jorge Vicent, Bastian Siegmann, Shari Van Wittenberghe
• DOI: 10.3390/rs18010146

Research Groups

Not explicitly stated in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study investigates the retrieval of pigment-specific effective absorbance (fAPARChla) and Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) using airborne and ground-based hyperspectral data over an alfalfa field. It demonstrates the robust application of spectral unmixing techniques, particularly Constrained Least Squares (CLS), to derive fAPARChla and calculate fluorescence quantum efficiency (FQE), showing strong agreement between different sensing platforms.

Objective

• To accurately quantify photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by chlorophyll (fAPARChla) and the corresponding fluorescence quantum efficiency (FQE) using both airborne hyperspectral imagery and ground-based field spectroscopy.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Field scale (well-irrigated alfalfa field in northeastern Spain).
• Temporal Scale: Not explicitly stated.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Constrained Least Squares (CLS), Potential Function (POT), and Bilinear (BIL) models for spectral unmixing.
• Data sources: Airborne hyperspectral imagery (HyPlant), Ground-based field spectroscopy (FloX).

Main Results

• The Constrained Least Squares (CLS) approach was identified as the most robust spectral unmixing technique, balancing reconstruction accuracy with physical plausibility.
• fAPARChla was successfully derived from abundance-weighted pigment absorbance.
• Fluorescence Quantum Efficiency (FQE) was calculated by combining the derived fAPARChla with spectrally-integrated Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF).
• Strong agreement was observed between airborne and ground-based measurements for fAPARChla and SIF retrieval.
• The study demonstrates the applicability of advanced spectral unmixing frameworks for both airborne and proximal sensing data.
• A reliable baseline for photosynthetic efficiency in a healthy crop was established.

Contributions

• Provides a validated combined methodology for retrieving pigment-specific effective absorbance (fAPARChla) and Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF), and calculating fluorescence quantum efficiency (FQE), using both airborne and ground-based hyperspectral data.
• Demonstrates the robustness and applicability of advanced spectral unmixing frameworks, particularly CLS, for disentangling pigment and background contributions across different sensing platforms.
• Establishes a reliable baseline for photosynthetic efficiency in a healthy crop, laying a foundation for future studies on stress detection.

Funding

Not explicitly stated in the provided text.

Citation

@article{PascualVenteo2026Spectral,
  author = {Pascual-Venteo, Ana B. and Pérez-Suay, Adrián and Morata, M. and Moncholí, Adrián and Cendrero-Mateo, Maria Pilar and Vicent, Jorge and Siegmann, Bastian and Wittenberghe, Shari Van},
  title = {Spectral Unmixing of Airborne and Ground-Based Imaging Spectroscopy for Pigment-Specific FAPAR and Sun-Induced Fluorescence Interpretation},
  journal = {Remote Sensing},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3390/rs18010146},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18010146}
}