 A coupled land surface reflectance retrieval algorithm named CAT is proposed for rugged mountainous regions using TerraMode's derived atmospheric characterization data, a physics-based path radiance estimation model, and band-specific per pixel path radiance values. The CAT algorithm reduces the correlation between reflectance and terrain while increasing image information content over 20%, upperforming previous studies in atmospheric and topographic corrections without empirical regression. This article was authored by Jiaoming Zhong, Guijin He, Xiao Mai Zhong, and others.