ARSF project GB08/11: Validation Consolidation of the Envisat MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MTCI). Led by: Dr. Doreen Sandra Boyd, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. Location: Brooms Farm, UK.

Satellite remote sensing provides the opportunity to measure and monitor key photosynthetic pigments such as chlorophyll content of vegetation canopies, which are a key and dynamic component of global ecosystems. The widely accepted red-edge algorithm, used to estimate chlorophyll content from remotely sensed data, is not suitable for use with satellite imagery. To overcome this problem, the new Envisat MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll index (MCTI) has been developed. It is the only satellite chlorophyll index available for use and is available to users as a Level 2 product from the European Space Agency. However, there is a need to validate the MCTI. In 2006 the NERC ARSF supported a validation campaign over croplands and woodlands in southern England and further support has been received from the NERC FSF and the ESA. All these studies represent a significant step to the full validation of the Envisat MTCI, however, further effort is required, with particular issues in focus. Data provided as part of this NERC ARSF campaign which took place in East Anglia in collaboration with Rothamsted Research Station, Broom Barn, was a key part of the on-going validation programme. Consolidated validation results will be useful to the producers (ESA) and users of the MCTI products.