The Sentinel-2A has rather high spatial resolution, with its 13 multispectral bands, the unique "red edge" band, very wide and free of charge, as an optical remote sensing satellite, serving a bran-new solution for the analysis of the characteristic information extraction of the regional vegetation ecological environment. As a case study, the upper reaches of Minjiang River are considered, with the Sentinel-2A data downloaded from the European Space Agency. The SNAP software is used for extracting the Sentinel-2A L2A data and the scene classification map after the analyses of the satellite parameters, the data type, the format grade, using the pretreatment method. On the basis of the generated L2A data, five biomass indexes are calculated by using the biophysical parameter processing module in the SNAP software, including the leaf area index, the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, the chlorophyll content in the leaf, the canopy water content and the fraction of vegetation cover in the study area. The mean value and the standard deviation of every index are analyzed for five counties in the upper reaches of Minjiang River. And the mean values and the standard deviations of three indexes are estimated for the vegetation growing and health situation of five counties, including the leaf area index, the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, and the chlorophyll content in the leaf. The vegetation characteristics of the region are analyzed, combined with the scene classification map in the study area. The result provides a quick and efficient reference for the quantitative assessment of the regional ecological environment.

Sentinel-2A  /  the upper reaches of Minjiang River  /  biomass  /  remote sensing retrieval  /  vegetation