Title: Isofit for Airborne imaging spectroscopy surveys of Arctic and boreal Alaska and northwestern Canada 2017–2023
Citation: Philip G Brodrick, David R Thompson, Niklas Bohn, Nimrod Carmon, Regina Eckert, James Montgomery, Kevin Wurster, Nicholas Vaughn, & Evan Greenberg. (2026). isofit (Version v4.1.4) [Computer software]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22711520
Study Site: Arctic and boreal Canada
Purpose: Since 2015, NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) has investigated how climate change impacts the vulnerability and/or resilience of the permafrost-affected ecosystems of Alaska and northwestern Canada. ABoVE conducted extensive surveys with the Next Generation Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-NG) during 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022 and with AVIRIS-3 in 2023 to characterize tundra, taiga, peatlands, and wetlands in unprecedented detail. The ABoVE AVIRIS dataset comprises ~1700 individual flight lines covering ~120,000 km2 with nominal 5 m × 5 m spatial resolution. Data include individual transects to capture important gradients like the tundra-taiga ecotone and maps of up to 10,000 km2 for key study areas like the Mackenzie Delta.
Abstract: ISOFIT is a Python toolkit for retrieving surface reflectance, atmospheric state, and instrument calibration from imaging spectrometer radiance data. It is built around the optimal estimation framework and is designed for flexibility — users can combine different radiative transfer models, surface priors, and uncertainty models to suit their sensors and science questions. The effort began with a straightforward optimal estimation implementation, and has grown considerably - see the bibilography for the latest science.
Supplemental Information Summary:
Research:
Further Info: Miller, C.E., Green, R.O., Thompson, D.R. et al. Airborne imaging spectroscopy surveys of Arctic and boreal Alaska and northwestern Canada 2017–2023. Sci Data 12, 692 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04898-w
Status: Complete
Keywords:
remote sensing,
mapping,
Geographical coordinates: North: 69.80, South: 51.24 East: -92.93 West: -139.07
Bounding Temporal Extent: Start Date: , End
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