On the correct estimation of gap fraction: How to remove scattered radiation in gap fraction measurements?

Correct estimates of gap fraction are essential for quantifying canopy architectural variables, such as leaf area and clumping indices, which modify land–atmosphere interactions. However, gap fraction measurements from optical sensors are contaminated by radiation that is scattered by plant elements and ground surfaces. In this study, we propose a simple one-dimensional, invertible, bidirectional transmission model to remove scattering effects from gap fraction measurements. To evaluate how well the proposed model computes scattered radiance under a variety of ecosystem conditions, we compared simulated scattered radiance by the proposed model to a more sophisticated three-dimensional model in four ecosystem types (oak-grass savanna, birch, pine, and spruce stands). The simple model showed good agreement with the three-dimensional model in the scattering factor (scattered radiation from leaves normalized by sky radiation), except for highly reflective stems such as birch. The simple model showed that the scattering factor is highest when the leaf area index (LAI) is low (1–2 m2 m−2) in a non-clumped canopy, potential errors in estimating the LAI increase with an increase in LAI, and bright land surfaces (e.g., snow and bright soil) and bright stems (e.g., birch) can contribute significantly to scattering effects. By applying the simple model with LAI-2200 data collected in an oak-grass savanna woodland, we found that the scattering factor causes significant underestimation of the LAI (up to 26% for sunny conditions, 7.7% for diffuse sky conditions) and significant overestimation of the apparent clumping index (up to 14% for sunny conditions, 4.3% for diffuse sky conditions). The LAI is underestimated because of the effect of scattered radiation on gap fraction estimates, which cause overestimation of the clumping index. Even under highly diffuse sky conditions, errors in LAI estimates due to scattering effects are not always negligible (up to 7.7% underestimation). The proposed inversion scheme provides an opportunity to quantify gap fractions, LAI, and apparent clumping index even under sunny conditions.

► A simple bidirectional transmission model is proposed. ► The model is able to remove scattering effects caused by canopy and soil. ► The model enables us to use optical sensors like LAI-2000 under sunny conditions.