Retrieving Leaf Chlorophyll Content by Incorporating Variable Leaf Surface Reflectance in the PROSPECT Model

Leaf chlorophyll content plays a vital role in plant photosynthesis. The PROSPECT model has been widely used for retrieving leaf chlorophyll content from remote sensing data over various plant species. However, despite wide variations in leaf surface reflectance across different plant species and environmental conditions, leaf surface reflectance is assumed to be the same for different leaves in the PROSPECT model. This work extends the PROSPECT model by taking into account the variation of leaf surface reflection. In the modified model named PROSPECT-Rsurf, an additional surface layer with a variable refractive index is bounded on the N elementary layers. Leaf surface reflectance (Rs) is characterized by the difference between the refractive indices of leaf surface and interior layers. The specific absorption coefficients of the leaf total chlorophyll and carotenoids were recalibrated using a cross-calibration method and the refractive indices of leaf surface and interior layers were obtained during model inversion. Chlorophyll content (Cab) retrieval and spectral reconstruction in the visible spectral region (VIS, 400–750 nm) were greatly improved using PROSPECT-Rsurf, especially for leaves covered by heavy wax or hard cuticles that lead to high surface reflectance. The root mean square error (RMSE) of chlorophyll estimates decreased from 11.1 µg/cm2 to 8.9 µg/cm2 and the Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) increased from 0.81 to 0.88 (p < 0.01) for broadleaf samples in validation, compared to PROSPECT-5. For needle leaves, r increased from 0.71 to 0.89 (p < 0.01), but systematic overestimation of Cab was found due to the edge effects of needles. After incorporating the edge effects in PROSPECT-Rsurf, the overestimation of Cab was alleviated and its estimation was improved for needle leaves. This study explores the influence of leaf surface reflectance on Cab estimation at the leaf level. By coupling PROSPECT-Rsurf with canopy models, the influence of leaf surface reflectance on canopy reflectance and therefore canopy chlorophyll content retrieval can be investigated across different spatial and temporal scales.