Evaluation of Land Surface Phenology for Autumn Leaf Color Change Based on Citizen Reports across Japan

Autumn foliage color is an important phenological characteristic associated with climate and appeals to populations as a cultural ecosystem service (CES). Land surface phenology (LSP) analyzed using time-series remotely sensed imagery can facilitate the monitoring of autumn leaf change (ALCC); however, by LSP approaches still challenging because complex spatio-temporal ALCC patterns observational uncertainty remote sensing sensors. Here, we evaluated performance several analysis in estimation LSP-based ALCCs against ground-level information obtained from 758 sightseeing (high CES) sites across Japan. The ground uniquely collected citizens represented stages greening, early, peak, late, defoliation on daily basis. was estimated second derivative approach, which normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), kernel (kNDVI), enhanced (EVI), two-band (EVI2), green red (GRVI) were applied based MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MOD09A1 four (Beck, Elmore, Gu, Zhang) double logistic smoothing methods 2020. results revealed inconsistency estimates different analytical methods; those EVI Beck model peak stage relatively well, while other indices models had high discrepancies along uncertainty. Our study provided insights how approach be improved toward mapping CESs offered foliage.