ToolsRTM
Section · Simulation tool
ToolsRTM
The Virtual Biophysical Lab is designed to connect with existing R toolboxes for radiative transfer modelling. The ToolsRTM package provides a comprehensive suite of models for simulating leaf and canopy reflectance, including soil and atmosphere components.
R · ToolsRTM
Leaf & canopy radiative transfer
ToolsRTM is an R package designed to perform detailed simulations of leaf and canopy reflectance using a wide suite of radiative transfer (RT) models. It operates across multiple satellite spectral configurations and enables high-fidelity analysis of vegetation biophysical and biochemical traits.
At the canopy level, ToolsRTM includes models such as INFORM, fourSAIL, and fourSAIL2, enabling the simulation of BRDF-sensitive canopy reflectance under variable structural and illumination conditions.
At the leaf level, the package integrates models such as PROSPECT, Liberty, and FLUSPECT (B–Cx), enabling simulation of pigment content, water, and dry-matter effects on reflectance and transmittance.
ToolsRTM also incorporates the SPART model for top-of-atmosphere (TOA) simulations, integrating:
- BSM — soil reflectance
- PROSAIL — canopy reflectance
- SMAC — atmospheric radiative transfer
The package includes the MARMIT model for bare-soil reflectance (400–2500 nm), implemented via get.marmit1 and get.marmit2.
ToolsRTM provides access to eight reference soil and vegetation databases used for model parameterisation and validation.
GitLab repository:
ToolsRTM package
R + Python · RTM-Suite
ToolsRTM is now available in R and Python
ToolsRTM has been ported to Python as part of RTM-Suite, the joint documentation and demo site that keeps the R and Python versions numerically in sync and cross-verified against each other.
R · ShinyApp
Shiny application and LUT example
Example R code showing how to launch the RT simulators and generate a small PROSAIL lookup table (LUT) using ToolsRTM. The apps themselves (Model Explorer, PROSAIL-WithSatellite, LUT builder) are point-and-click, no code required — try them via RTM-Suite: