The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), defines validation as the process of assessing, by independent means, the quality of the data products derived from the system outputs.
The MODIS Land Validation Strategy
MODIS Land (MODLAND) product quality is ensured by Calibration, Quality
Assurance (QA) and Validation. The MODIS land validation effort will contribute to and leverage off of international
validation activities, helping to establish standards and protocols through close coordination
with the CEOS Land Product Validation (LPV) subgroup, under its Working
Group on Calibration and Validation (WGCV).
MODLAND uses several validation techniques to develop uncertainty information for its products. These include comparisons with
in situ data collected over a distributed set of validation test sites, comparisons with data and products from other sensors (e.g., ASTER, AVHRR, MISR, TM/ETM+),
intercomparison of trends derived from independently-obtained reference data, and analysis of process model results.
MODLAND's primary validation technique includes the collection of field and aircraft data, and comparison
with these and with products from other satellites. The infrastructure for these efforts has resulted in the establishment
of a semi-permanent array of EOS Land Validation , most
of which include a flux tower for extended temporal measurement of terrestrial biophysical dynamics over
a range of landcover types. Field data are archived in cooperation with the Oak Ridge DAAC's
Mercury system. Results of all validation activities are
conveyed to the end-user through both published literature
and the MODLAND product pages.
Validation Hierarchy
More Validation Background...V2