LPV Mission

To foster quantitative validation of higher-level global land products derived from remote sensing data and to relay results so they are relevant to users

Validation is the process of assessing, by independent means, the quality of the data products derived from the system outputs

Background

The subgroup on Land Product Validation (LPV) is one of six subgroups of the Working Group on Calibration and Validation (WGCV), which itself is one of two standing working groups within the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS, see also CEOS structure ).   The six WGCV subgroups are:

• Infrared and Visible Optical Sensors (IVOS)
• Atmospheric Chemistry (AC)
• Microwave Sensors (MS)
• Synthetic Aperature Radar (SAR)
• Terrain Mapping (TM )
• Land Product Validation (LPV)

   The Land Product Validation subgroup arose out of the recognition in the late nineties that standardized approaches to global product validation were essential for wide acceptance and use of proposed global land products. Several programs at the time were aimed at global monitoring of Earth processes, many with plans to distribute higher level data products. A common approach to validation would encourage widespread use of validation data, and thus help us to more toward standardized approaches to global product validation. With the high cost of in-situ data collection, the potential benefits from international cooperation are considerable and obvious.
   Previous requests for assistance from the original International Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) pilot projects and two subsequent ad hoc meetings of the WGCV identified a clear need for improved international collaboration concerning the validation of land products derived from Earth observing satellites. A new subgroup within the WGCV was proposed to the CEOS Plenary in Stockholm at the end of 1999, receiving full support.  The LPV was officially adopted as a subgroup at the WGCV-17 meeting in October of 2000.
   A general consensus now exists within the CEOS community to identify the three stages of validation for satellite products. The guidelines for the CEOS Hierarchy of Validation are:

Stage 1 Validation	Product accuracy has been estimated using a small number of independent measurements obtained from selected locations and time periods and ground-truth/field program effort.
Stage 2 Validation	Product accuracy has been assessed over a widely distributed set of locations and time periods via several ground-truth and validation efforts.
Stage 3 Validation	Product accuracy has been assessed, and the uncertainties in the product well-established via independent measurements made in a systematic and statistically robust way that represents global conditions.

   The LPV subgroup activities are divided up into four themes that compliment the research agenda of the Global Observations of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics (GOFC/GOLD) program, namely biophysical products, fire/burn scar detection, and land cover mapping.  In addition to the GOFC/GOLD themes, the LPV subgroup includes an Albedo/Surface Radiation thematic group.  Working with GOFC/GOLD, who seek the common goal of coordinated validation of land cover and fire products by standardized protocols, LPV aims for similar coordination for all land products.

More on LPV: background, previous reports, and it relationship with WGCV
and CEOS...….

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Curator: Jaime Nickeson
NASA Official: Jeff Morisette
Last Updated: April 10, 2008