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- Author or Editor: Seth Nemesure x
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Abstract
A method to retrieve aerosol vertical optical depth at 0.64 μm from satellite observations of cloud-free scenes over oceans with high spatial resolution (∼1°) and instantaneous temporal resolution is described and evaluated. The observed radiance is treated as the linear sum of contributions to path radiance by different scattering processes in the atmosphere–ocean system. This treatment allows examination of errors in the retrieved vertical aerosol optical depth contributed by each process and approximation. Random error in retrieved aerosol optical depth is typically 0.03. The systematic error due to absolute calibration uncertainty in the measured radiance is 0.01. The largest errors and biases are due to radiative transfer approximations (+22%) and assumptions regarding aerosol microphysical and optical properties (−20%). The latter errors, which are due to the optical properties (e.g., phase function), vary systematically with latitude and season because of the variation of the mean observing geometry.
This method is applied to Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer global area coverage data, and example maps of aerosol optical depth are presented for specific dates in July and October 1986. The aerosol optical depth derived from the satellite data is suitable for examining large aerosol signatures by instantaneous comparison of the amplitude and location of aerosol plumes with model predictions based on meteorological conditions at and preceding the time of observation.
Abstract
A method to retrieve aerosol vertical optical depth at 0.64 μm from satellite observations of cloud-free scenes over oceans with high spatial resolution (∼1°) and instantaneous temporal resolution is described and evaluated. The observed radiance is treated as the linear sum of contributions to path radiance by different scattering processes in the atmosphere–ocean system. This treatment allows examination of errors in the retrieved vertical aerosol optical depth contributed by each process and approximation. Random error in retrieved aerosol optical depth is typically 0.03. The systematic error due to absolute calibration uncertainty in the measured radiance is 0.01. The largest errors and biases are due to radiative transfer approximations (+22%) and assumptions regarding aerosol microphysical and optical properties (−20%). The latter errors, which are due to the optical properties (e.g., phase function), vary systematically with latitude and season because of the variation of the mean observing geometry.
This method is applied to Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer global area coverage data, and example maps of aerosol optical depth are presented for specific dates in July and October 1986. The aerosol optical depth derived from the satellite data is suitable for examining large aerosol signatures by instantaneous comparison of the amplitude and location of aerosol plumes with model predictions based on meteorological conditions at and preceding the time of observation.
Abstract
Recent data from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) have raised the question as to whether or not the addition of clouds to the atmospheric column can decrease the top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) albedo over bright snow-covered surfaces. To address this issue, ERBE shortwave pixel measurements have been collocated with surface insolation measurements made at two snow-covered locations: the South Pole and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Both collocated datasets show a negative correlation (with solar zenith angle variability removed) between TOA albedo and surface insulation. Because increased cloudiness acts to reduce surface insulation, these negative correlations demonstrate that clouds increase the TOA albedo at both snow-covered locations.
Abstract
Recent data from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) have raised the question as to whether or not the addition of clouds to the atmospheric column can decrease the top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) albedo over bright snow-covered surfaces. To address this issue, ERBE shortwave pixel measurements have been collocated with surface insolation measurements made at two snow-covered locations: the South Pole and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Both collocated datasets show a negative correlation (with solar zenith angle variability removed) between TOA albedo and surface insulation. Because increased cloudiness acts to reduce surface insulation, these negative correlations demonstrate that clouds increase the TOA albedo at both snow-covered locations.
Abstract
Two datasets have been combined to demonstrate how the availability of more comprehensive datasets could serve to elucidate the shortwave radiative impact of clouds on both the atmospheric column and the surface. These datasets consist of two measurements of net downward shortwave radiation: one of near-surface measurements made at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory tower, and the other of collocated top-of-the-atmosphere measurements from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment. Output from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts General Circulation Model also has been used as an aid in interpreting the data, while the data have in turn been employed to validate the model's shortwave radiation code as it pertains to cloud radiation properties. Combined, the datasets and model demonstrate a strategy for determining under what conditions the shortwave radiative impact of clouds leads to a heating or cooling of the atmospheric column. The datasets also show, in terms of a linear slope-offset algorithm for retrieving the net downward shortwave radiation at the surface from satellite measurements, that the clouds present during this study produced a modest negative bias in the retrieved surface flux relative to that inferred from a clear-sky algorithm.
Abstract
Two datasets have been combined to demonstrate how the availability of more comprehensive datasets could serve to elucidate the shortwave radiative impact of clouds on both the atmospheric column and the surface. These datasets consist of two measurements of net downward shortwave radiation: one of near-surface measurements made at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory tower, and the other of collocated top-of-the-atmosphere measurements from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment. Output from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts General Circulation Model also has been used as an aid in interpreting the data, while the data have in turn been employed to validate the model's shortwave radiation code as it pertains to cloud radiation properties. Combined, the datasets and model demonstrate a strategy for determining under what conditions the shortwave radiative impact of clouds leads to a heating or cooling of the atmospheric column. The datasets also show, in terms of a linear slope-offset algorithm for retrieving the net downward shortwave radiation at the surface from satellite measurements, that the clouds present during this study produced a modest negative bias in the retrieved surface flux relative to that inferred from a clear-sky algorithm.
