2012 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416): This project evaluates the potential value of the proposed hyperspectral/multispectral remote sensing platform known as HyspIRI for assessment of vegetation cover in arid lands; cover assessment is critical for understanding the surface water budget. Existing airborne remote sensing data will be used to simulate HypsIRI data and to assess how much better land cover monitoring could be with the newer remote sensing technology. 1b.Approach (from AD-416): Methods will use existing MASTER and AVIRIS data collected over New Mexico and Oklahoma. Land surface temperatures, emissivities, and reflectances will be estimated. Cover change analysis using emissivity and narrowband visible-near infrared data will be performed using airborne and ancillary ASTER/MODIS data in conjunction with classification techniques. Spatial statistics will help assess resolution and scale effects. MASTER and ancillary data will be used for time scale analyses. Regression analyses will evaluate the significance of different thermal infrared bands. 3.Progress Report: Our NASA-funded project to generate, model and interpret synthetic HyspIRI data made substantial progress in 2012. HyspIRI is a transformative spaceborne remote sensing effort in support of NASA’s decadal survey. HyspIRI will contain hyperspectral and multispectral systems with 60 m spatial resolution and 5-19 day observational periodicity. Among other goals, HyspIRI will enable weekly estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) at farm scales, thus making possible detailed and accurate water use and management support systems across the globe. This funded work relates to objective 2 of the parent project, “Develop and verify remote sensing methods, tools and decision support systems”. For 2012, airborne and spaceborne remote sensing were acquired georegistered, atmospherically corrected modeled for surface reflectance, temperature and emissivities, and incorporated into evapotranspiration (ET) routines. Project deliverables, including temperature/emissivity maps, land cover change maps, evapotranspiration maps, modeling uncertainty results were partially completed for the Jornada, Sevilleta and Southern Great Plains sites. In 2012 more than 115 MASTER, 81 AVIRIS and 27 ASTER scenes were processed. Facilitated by a no-cost extension, all deliverables will be finalized in 2012.