Enhanced measurement of photosynthetically active radiation (par) and image conversion therefor

An image conversion system comprising:

• a processing system;
• a storage system;
• a network interface;
• and
• instructions stored on the storage system that when executed by the processing system perform a method for measuring photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), comprising:
• receiving, via the network interface, image data covering between 400-700 nm wavelengths using at least one spectral band;
• performing, by the processing system, a partial calibration using the image data and a calibration image to generate a partially-reflectance-calibrated data;
• performing, by the processing system, a full calibration using the image data, the calibration image, and down-welling data to generate a fully-reflectance-calibrated data;
• generating, by the processing system, a down-welling PAR (dPAR) image from at least the partially-reflectance-calibrated data and the fully-reflectance-calibrated data;
• generating, by the processing system, an up-welling PAR (uPAR) image from at least the partially-reflectance-calibrated data;
• and
• generating, by the processing system, a fraction-absorbed PAR (faPAR) image using a ratio of uPAR to dPAR.