Digital Commons Network^™

The Tasselled Cap -- A Graphic Description Of The Spectral-Temporal Development Of Agricultural Crops As Seen By Landsat, R. J. Kauth, G. S. Thomas

LARS Symposia

The time trajectories of agricultural data points as seen in LANDSAT signal space form a pattern suggestive of a tasselled woolly cap. Using this easily visualized three dimensional construct most of the important phenomena of crop development and observation variables are pointed out, named, discussed and measured. The important crop phenomena described are the distribution of signals from bare soil, the processes of green development, of yellow development, of shadowing and of harvesting. The important external variables include view angle, sun angle, atmospheric haze, and atmospheric water vapor.

The development of a quantitative picture of the tasselled cap depends upon …