MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index
Introduction
Global and regional composite (Level 3) products of MERIS Level 2 geophysical data are generated by the UK Multi-Mission Product Archive Facility (UK-MM-PAF)/Infoterra Ltd. Level 3 composites of MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MTCI) are available from NEODC. The products are in GEOTIFF format, on lat-lon geocoded grids, accompanied by an XML-metadata file and a JPEG browse image.
The Level 3 compositing algorithms used by Infoterra are described here, and are applied to ESA Level 2 MERIS products.
The MTCI L2 product is calculated using three red/near infrared bands of Envisat MERIS data. The product produces an image of chlorophyll content (i.e. the amount of chlorophyll per unit area of ground). Chlorophyll content plays an important role in determining the physiological status of a plant, is related to photosynthetic rate and varies temporally and spatially. MTCI composites can therefore be used to estimate relative and land cover specific chlorophyll content in space and time.
Figure 1. MTCI Monthly Product Europe June 2003
Platform Parameters
See the ENVISAT fact sheet.
Data availability
The following MERIS Level 3 MTCI products are available through NEODC
Weekly and monthly products for 2002 to 2007.
- Global (4.63km)
- Regional (1km) : Europe, Australia, North America
- Regional (1km) : Northern and Southern Africa (2005 onwards only)
The data can be used by registered NEODC users for academic research purposes. Full access conditions can be viewed here.
Access to data
If you wish to use the MTCI data held at NEODC, please
- Register as a NEODC user. If you already are a NEODC registered user, skip this step. If you have forgotten your NEODC user ID and/or password, please contact the NEODC helpdesk at neodc@rl.ac.uk.
- Apply for access to the MTCI data. Application involves agreement with the Conditions of Use
Documentation
- Infoterra Web pages: Level 3 Product Generation Service
- MERIS product handbook at ESA
- Conditions of use
- Background documents on MTCI
- Dash and Curran, ESA MERIS User Workshop 2003
- Dash and Curran, ESA MERIS - (A)ATSR Workshop 2005
- Dash and Curran, 2004, The MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 25, pp 5003-5013
- Curran and Dash, 2005, Algorithm theoretical basis document (ATBD): Chlorophyll Index, European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 43pp (Version 2.2) (pdf)
- Reese et al., International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Environment, 2005 (pdf)
Links
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