The objective of the VarBio Scientific Expertise (SEC) is to provide products on France or over a wider coverage for two biophysical variables characteristic of vegetation that have been recognized as ECVs (Essential Climate Variables) by the Global Climate Observing System – GCOS:
the Leaf Area Index (LAI) and
fAPAR (fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation), as well as the green fraction of vegetation (fCover or Green Fraction).
The product resulting from the VarBio SEC is updated with a frequency of one to 10 days. It has a kilometre (km), hectometre (hm) and decametre (dm) scale, and global coverage. VarBio SEC complements the Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) for medium-resolution sensors and toolkits developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) such as the SNAP Toolbox or the SEN2-AGRI system for Sentinel-2.
Schedule
2015: algorithms and production chains developed for km and hm levels, additional validations for the dm level
2016: development of specific products intended for agricultural areas (wheat, maize, sunflower)