Call for Participation in the third Atmospheric Correction Intercomparison eXercise (ACIX-III)

Dear Ocean Colour Community

On behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA) and National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA), we would like to invite you to participate in the 3rd atmospheric correction intercomparison exercise (ACIX-III) being formulated to gauge the performances of atmospheric correction (AC) methods for processing moderate-resolution hyperspectral and multispectral imagery acquired by missions including PRISMA, Landsat-8/9, and Sentinel-2A/B.

The 2nd exercise evaluated Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2A/B aquatic (water-leaving) reflectance products using Ocean Color radiometer data collected from the Aerosol Robotic Network stations (AERONET-OC) and a community validation dataset acquired through independent research cruises. Given the successful implementation of ACIX-II, remaining challenges in AC, and existing/upcoming missions with hyperspectral capabilities, the organizing committee is embarking on the next round-robin exercise to assess and advance the performance of AC processors across global inland and coastal waters. To that end, this announcement calls for the community’s involvement in ACIX-III in three forms:

Agencies or research institutes that have developed operational AC processors for the target missions indicated above. Detailed information about these processors must be available in the form of peer-reviewed publications.
Research teams that have conceptualized and formulated AC processors and anticipate their methodology to be peer-reviewed and published by Aug 31st, 2023.
Research institutes/teams with the capacity to contribute to either the assembly of in situ radiometric data or the assessment of satellite matchups.

Further specifics on the scope of the activity, inter-comparison protocols, and data policy will be shared amongst the participants in due course. To register, please fill out this form and provide as much detail as needed in the “Comments” box regarding the nature of your participation.

Regards,
ACIX-III Coordinators – Aquatic Subgroup
Claudia Giardino and Nima Pahlevan