Integrating canopy structure into remote sensing inversion strategies: Optimizing plant functional trait retrieval

Accurate retrieval of plant functional traits is critical for monitoring crop growth and improving agronomic management. Canopy structural parameters, such as leaf area index (LAI) and leaf inclination distribution function (LIDFa), strongly influence inversion accuracy. Quantifying canopy structural uncertainties and developing strategies to improve retrieval accuracy are crucial. In this study, we developed an inversion framework based on the Soil Canopy Observation of Photosynthesis and Energy fluxes (SCOPE) model, integrating reflectance and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) data. Using both simulation modelling and field measurements in NEON STER crop field, we introduced multi-level prior noise and evaluated how uncertainties in LAI and LIDFa propagate into the retrieval of chlorophyll content (Cab), maximum carboxylation rate (Vcmax), and fluorescence quantum efficiency (fqe). To assess the influence of canopy structure and improve retrieval accuracy, three inversion strategies—Prior-Matched (PM), Regularized (RI), and No-Prior (NP)—were designed and tested for their accuracy and robustness. The results showed that second-order Sobol’ indices (S2) captured interactions among canopy structural parameters and functional traits, particularly between Cab-LAI, Cab-LIDFa and fqe-LAI, with sensitive spectral ranges at 680–740 nm (fluorescence) and 600–720 nm (reflectance). Error amplification analysis under six noise levels showed that structural uncertainties significant amplified reflectance and fluorescence variations, with red-edge shifts ( Δ RE ) and 740 nm fluorescence changes ( Δ F 740 ) being most sensitive. Incorporating prior canopy structure information improved inversion accuracy by up to 7.93 % in R² and reduced RMSE by 21.25 %, although this advantage diminished under high noise levels. LAI uncertainty had a greater impact than LIDFa, and additive noise introduced more uncertainty than multiplicative noise. Comparison of the inversion strategies revealed that the RI strategy achieved higher accuracy (simulated data: R 2 =0.954; measured data: R 2 =0.799) and greater robustness to noise than the PM strategy. These findings demonstrate the value of integrating canopy structure into computational inversion models to enhance the reliability of remote sensing trait retrieval, supporting precision agriculture and sustainable crop production. • Incorporating prior canopy structure improve the accuracy of plant trait inversion. • Errors in canopy structure strongly influence plant trait retrieval. • Among inversions with prior canopy structure, the regularized strategy performed best.