scholarly journals Evaluation of the MODIS Aerosol Retrievals over Ocean and Land during CLAMS

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 974-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Levy ◽  
L. A. Remer ◽  
J. V. Martins ◽  
Y. J. Kaufman ◽  
A. Plana-Fattori ◽  
...  

Abstract The Chesapeake Lighthouse Aircraft Measurements for Satellites (CLAMS) experiment took place from 10 July to 2 August 2001 in a combined ocean–land region that included the Chesapeake Lighthouse [Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) Ocean Validation Experiment (COVE)] and the Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), both along coastal Virginia. This experiment was designed mainly for validating instruments and algorithms aboard the Terra satellite platform, including the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Over the ocean, MODIS retrieved aerosol optical depths (AODs) at seven wavelengths and an estimate of the aerosol size distribution. Over the land, MODIS retrieved AOD at three wavelengths plus qualitative estimates of the aerosol size. Temporally coincident measurements of aerosol properties were made with a variety of sun photometers from ground sites and airborne sites just above the surface. The set of sun photometers provided unprecedented spectral coverage from visible (VIS) to the solar near-infrared (NIR) and infrared (IR) wavelengths. In this study, AOD and aerosol size retrieved from MODIS is compared with similar measurements from the sun photometers. Over the nearby ocean, the MODIS AOD in the VIS and NIR correlated well with sun-photometer measurements, nearly fitting a one-to-one line on a scatterplot. As one moves from ocean to land, there is a pronounced discontinuity of the MODIS AOD, where MODIS compares poorly to the sun-photometer measurements. Especially in the blue wavelength, MODIS AOD is too high in clean aerosol conditions and too low under larger aerosol loadings. Using the Second Simulation of the Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6S) radiative code to perform atmospheric correction, the authors find inconsistency in the surface albedo assumptions used by the MODIS lookup tables. It is demonstrated how the high bias at low aerosol loadings can be corrected. By using updated urban/industrial aerosol climatology for the MODIS lookup table over land, it is shown that the low bias for larger aerosol loadings can also be corrected. Understanding and improving MODIS retrievals over the East Coast may point to strategies for correction in other locations, thus improving the global quality of MODIS. Improvements in regional aerosol detection could also lead to the use of MODIS for monitoring air pollution.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana Elisabeta Popovici ◽  
Philippe Goloub ◽  
Thierry Podvin ◽  
Luc Blarel ◽  
Rodrigue Loisil ◽  
...  

Abstract. The majority of ground-based aerosols observations are limited to fixed locations, narrowing the knowledge on their spatial variability. In order to overcome this issue, a compact Mobile Aerosol Monitoring System (MAMS) was developed to explore the aerosol vertical and spatial variability. This mobile laboratory is equipped with a micropulse lidar, a sun-photometer and an aerosol spectrometer. It is distinguished by other transportable platforms through its ability to perform on-road measurements and its unique feature lies in the sun-photometer capable to track the sun during motion. The system presents a great flexibility, being able to respond quickly in case of sudden aerosol events such as pollution episodes, dust, fire or volcano outbreaks. On-road mapping of aerosol physical parameters such as attenuated aerosol backscatter, aerosol optical depth, particle number and mass concentration and size distribution is achieved through the MAMS. The performance of remote sensing instruments on-board has been evaluated through intercomparison with instruments in reference networks (i.e. AERONET and EARLINET), showing that the system is capable of providing high quality data. This also illustrates the application of such system for instrument intercomparison field campaigns. Applications of the mobile system have been exemplified through two case studies in northern France. MODIS AOD data was compared to ground-based mobile sun-photometer data. A good correlation was observed with R2 of 0.76, showing the usefulness of the mobile system for validation of satellite-derived products. The performance of BSC-DREAM8b dust model has been tested by comparison of results from simulations to the lidar-sun-photometer derived extinction coefficient and mass concentration profiles. The comparison indicated that observations and model are in good agreement in describing the vertical variability of dust layers. Moreover, on-road measurements of PM10 were compared with modelled PM10 concentrations and with ATMO Hauts-de-France and AIRPARIF air quality in situ measurements, presenting an excellent agreement in horizontal spatial representativity of PM10. This proves a possible application of mobile platforms for evaluating the chemistry-models performances.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 4671-4691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana Elisabeta Popovici ◽  
Philippe Goloub ◽  
Thierry Podvin ◽  
Luc Blarel ◽  
Rodrigue Loisil ◽  
...  

Abstract. The majority of ground-based aerosols observations are limited to fixed locations, narrowing the knowledge on their spatial variability. In order to overcome this issue, a compact Mobile Aerosol Monitoring System (MAMS) was developed to explore the aerosol vertical and spatial variability. This mobile laboratory is equipped with a micropulse lidar, a sun photometer and an aerosol spectrometer. It is distinguished from other transportable platforms through its ability to perform on-road measurements and its unique feature lies in the sun photometer's capacity for tracking the sun during motion. The system presents a great flexibility, being able to respond quickly in case of sudden aerosol events such as pollution episodes, dust, fire or volcano outbreaks. On-road mapping of aerosol physical parameters such as attenuated aerosol backscatter, aerosol optical depth, particle number and mass concentration and size distribution is achieved through the MAMS. The performance of remote sensing instruments on-board has been evaluated through intercomparison with instruments in reference networks (i.e. AERONET and EARLINET), showing that the system is capable of providing high quality data. This also illustrates the application of such a system for instrument intercomparison field campaigns. Applications of the mobile system have been exemplified through two case studies in northern France. MODIS AOD data was compared to ground-based mobile sun photometer data. A good correlation was observed with R2 of 0.76, showing the usefulness of the mobile system for validation of satellite-derived products. The performance of BSC-DREAM8b dust model has been tested by comparison of results from simulations for the lidar–sun-photometer derived extinction coefficient and mass concentration profiles. The comparison indicated that observations and the model are in good agreement in describing the vertical variability of dust layers. Moreover, on-road measurements of PM10 were compared with modelled PM10 concentrations and with ATMO Hauts-de-France and AIRPARIF air quality in situ measurements, presenting an excellent agreement in horizontal spatial representativity of PM10. This proves a possible application of mobile platforms for evaluating the chemistry-models performances.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1593-1604 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Bassani ◽  
C. Manzo ◽  
F. Braga ◽  
M. Bresciani ◽  
C. Giardino ◽  
...  

Abstract. Hyperspectral imaging provides quantitative remote sensing of ocean colour by the high spectral resolution of the water features. The HICO™ (Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean) is suitable for coastal studies and monitoring. The accurate retrieval of hyperspectral water-leaving reflectance from HICO™ data is still a challenge. The aim of this work is to retrieve the water-leaving reflectance from HICO™ data with a physically based algorithm, using the local microphysical properties of the aerosol in order to overcome the limitations of the standard aerosol types commonly used in atmospheric correction processing. The water-leaving reflectance was obtained using the HICO@CRI (HICO ATmospherically Corrected Reflectance Imagery) atmospheric correction algorithm by adapting the vector version of the Second Simulation of a Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6SV) radiative transfer code. The HICO@CRI algorithm was applied on to six HICO™ images acquired in the northern Mediterranean basin, using the microphysical properties measured by the Acqua Alta Oceanographic Tower (AAOT) AERONET site. The HICO@CRI results obtained with AERONET products were validated with in situ measurements showing an accuracy expressed by r2 = 0.98. Additional runs of HICO@CRI on the six images were performed using maritime, continental and urban standard aerosol types to perform the accuracy assessment when standard aerosol types implemented in 6SV are used. The results highlight that the microphysical properties of the aerosol improve the accuracy of the atmospheric correction compared to standard aerosol types. The normalized root mean square (NRMSE) and the similar spectral value (SSV) of the water-leaving reflectance show reduced accuracy in atmospheric correction results when there is an increase in aerosol loading. This is mainly when the standard aerosol type used is characterized with different optical properties compared to the local aerosol. The results suggest that if a water quality analysis is needed the microphysical properties of the aerosol need to be taken into consideration in the atmospheric correction of hyperspectral data over coastal environments, because aerosols influence the accuracy of the retrieved water-leaving reflectance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 781
Author(s):  
Cristiana Bassani ◽  
Sindy Sterckx

For water quality monitoring using satellite data, it is often required to optimize the low radiance signal through the application of radiometric gains. This work describes a procedure for the retrieval of radiometric gains to be applied to OLI/L8 and MSI/S2A data over coastal waters. The gains are defined by the ratio of the top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectance simulated using the Second Simulation of a Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum—vector (6SV) radiative transfer model, REF, and the TOA reflectance acquired by the sensor, MEAS, over AERONET-OC stations. The REF is simulated considering quasi-synchronous atmospheric and aquatic AERONET-OC products and the image acquisition geometry. Both for OLI/L8 and MSI/S2A the measured TOA reflectance was higher than the modeled signal in almost all bands resulting in radiometric gains less than 1. The use of retrieved gains showed an improvement of reflectance remote sensing, Rrs, when with ACOLITE atmospheric correction software. When the gains are applied an accuracy improvement of the Rrs in the 400–700 nm domain was observed except for the first blue band of both sensors. Furthermore, the developed procedure is quick, user-friendly, and easily transferable to other optical sensors.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S305) ◽  
pp. 381-386
Author(s):  
H. D. Supriya ◽  
H. N. Smitha ◽  
K. N. Nagendra ◽  
J. O. Stenflo ◽  
M. Bianda ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Ca i 4227 Å is a chromospheric line exhibiting the largest degree of linear polarization near the limb, in the visible spectrum of the Sun. Modeling the observations of the center-to-limb variations (CLV) of different lines in the Second Solar Spectrum helps to sample the height dependence of the magnetic field, as the observations made at different lines of sight sample different heights in the solar atmosphere. Supriya et al. (2014) attempted to simultaneously model the CLV of the (I, Q/I) spectra of the Ca i 4227 Å line using the standard 1-D FAL model atmospheres. They found that the standard FAL model atmospheres and also any appropriate combination of them, fail to simultaneously fit the observed Stokes (I, Q/I) profiles at all the limb distances (μ) satisfying at the same time all the observational constraints. This failure of 1-D modeling approach can probably be overcome by using multi-dimensional modeling which is computationally expensive. To eliminate an even wider choice of 1-D models, we attempt here to simultaneously model the CLV of the (I, Q/I) spectra using the FCHHT solar model atmospheres which are updated and recent versions of the FAL models. The details of our modeling efforts and the results are presented.


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 6479-6492
Author(s):  
A. Kreuter ◽  
S. Wuttke ◽  
M. Blumthaler

Abstract. Errors in the sun photometer calibration constant lead to artificial diurnal variations, symmetric around solar noon, of the retrieved Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and the associated Ångström exponent α and its curvature γ. We show in simulations that within the uncertainty of state-of-the-art Langley calibrations, these diurnal variations of α and γ can be significant in low AOD conditions, while those of AOD are negligible. We implement a weighted Monte-Carlo method of finding an improved calibration constant by minimizing the diurnal variations in α and γ and apply the method to sun photometer data of a clear day in Innsbruck, Austria. The results show that our method can be used to improve the calibrations in two of the four wavelength channels by up to a factor of 3.6.


2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. A156
Author(s):  
K. G. Strassmeier ◽  
I. Ilyin ◽  
E. Keles ◽  
M. Mallonn ◽  
A. Järvinen ◽  
...  

Context. Observations of the Earthshine off the Moon allow for the unique opportunity to measure the large-scale Earth atmosphere. Another opportunity is realized during a total lunar eclipse which, if seen from the Moon, is like a transit of the Earth in front of the Sun. Aims. We thus aim at transmission spectroscopy of an Earth transit by tracing the solar spectrum during the total lunar eclipse of January 21, 2019. Methods. Time series spectra of the Tycho crater were taken with the Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic Instrument (PEPSI) at the Large Binocular Telescope in its polarimetric mode in Stokes IQUV at a spectral resolution of 130 000 (0.06 Å). In particular, the spectra cover the red parts of the optical spectrum between 7419–9067 Å. The spectrograph’s exposure meter was used to obtain a light curve of the lunar eclipse. Results. The brightness of the Moon dimmed by 10.m75 during umbral eclipse. We found both branches of the O2 A-band almost completely saturated as well as a strong increase of H2O absorption during totality. A pseudo O2 emission feature remained at a wavelength of 7618 Å, but it is actually only a residual from different P-branch and R-branch absorptions. It nevertheless traces the eclipse. The deep penumbral spectra show significant excess absorption from the Na I 5890-Å doublet, the Ca II infrared triplet around 8600 Å, and the K I line at 7699 Å in addition to several hyper-fine-structure lines of Mn I and even from Ba II. The detections of the latter two elements are likely due to an untypical solar center-to-limb effect rather than Earth’s atmosphere. The absorption in Ca II and K I remained visible throughout umbral eclipse. Our radial velocities trace a wavelength dependent Rossiter-McLaughlin effect of the Earth eclipsing the Sun as seen from the Tycho crater and thereby confirm earlier observations. A small continuum polarization of the O2 A-band of 0.12% during umbral eclipse was detected at 6.3σ. No line polarization of the O2 A-band, or any other spectral-line feature, is detected outside nor inside eclipse. It places an upper limit of ≈0.2% on the degree of line polarization during transmission through Earth’s atmosphere and magnetosphere.


1886 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Piazzi Smyth
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  

Throughout the year 1884 the sun was seen over most countries under peculiar atmospheric circumstances; and these, instead of being confined to low altitudes, were never more conspicuous than during the summer of the year, and noon-tide of each day, and in the clear air on mountain heights of every country, whenever the sky was more or less free of actual clouds.On such occasions then, the usual phenomenon to be noticed by the eye, was, that nothing like blue sky could be witnessed near the sun. But in place of that, there was a broad glare of whitish light extending for several degrees around the luminary; and beyond that range, or over 20 degrees distant from him, there spread a wide reddish haze, passing into purple, and at greater distances into blue, but nowhere a very decided and deep blue sky.


2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 188-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Algimantas Sirvydas ◽  
Vidmantas Kučinskas ◽  
Paulius Kerpauskas ◽  
Jūratė Nadzeikienė ◽  
Albinas Kusta

Solar radiation energy is used by vegetation, which predetermines the existence of biosphere. The plant uses 1–2% of the absorbed radiant energy for photosynthesis. All the remaining share of the absorbed energy, accounting for 99–98%, converts into thermal energy in the plant leaf. At the lowest wind under natural surrounding air conditions, plant leaves change their position with respect to the Sun. An oscillating plant leaf receives a variable amount of solar radiation energy, which causes changes in the balance of plant leaf energies and a changing emission of heat in the leaf. The analysis of solar radiation energy pulsations in the plant leaf shows that when the leaf is in the edge positions of angles 10°, 20° and 30° with respect to the Sun, 1.5%; 6% and 13% less of radiation energy reach the leaf, respectively. During periodic motion, when the amplitude of leaf oscillation is no bigger than 10°, the plant surface receives up to 1.6% less of solar radiation energy within a certain period of time, and when the amplitude of oscillation reaches 30° up to 14% less of solar radiation energy reach the leaf surface. The total amount of radiant energy received during pulsations of solar radiation energy is not dependent on the frequency of oscillation in the same interval of time. Temperature pulsations occur in the leaf due to solar radiation energy pulsations when the plant leaf naturally changes its position with respect to the Sun. Santrauka Saules spinduliuotes energija būtina augalijai, kuri lemia biosferos egzistavima. Augalas 1–2 % absorbuotos spinduliuotes energijos sunaudoja fotosintezei, o 99–98 % absorbuotos energijos augalo lape virsta šilumine energija. Natūraliomis aplinkos salygomis esant mažiausiam vejui augalo lapu padetis Saules atžvilgiu keičiasi. Taigi augalo svyruojančio lapo gaunamas Saules spinduliuotes energijos kiekis yra kintamas, tai sukelia pokyčius augalo lapo energiju balanse ir kintama šilumos išsiskyrima lape. Analizuojant Saules spinduliuotes energijos pulsacijas augalo lape, nustatyta, kad, lapui esant kraštinese 10°, 20° ir 30° kampu padetyse Saules atžvilgiu, i ji atitinkamai patenka 1,5 %; 6 % ir 13 % mažiau spinduliuotes energijos. Augalo lapui periodiškai svyruojant, kai svyravimo amplitude yra iki 10°, per tam tikra laika i lapo paviršiu patenka iki 1,6 % mažiau Saules spinduliuotes energijos, o kai svyravimo amplitu‐de siekia iki 30°, – iki 14 % mažiau. Saules spinduliuotes energijos pulsaciju metu gautas bendras spinduliuotes energijos kiekis nepriklauso nuo to paties laiko intervalo svyravimo dažnio. Del Saules spinduliuotes energijos pulsaciju, natūraliai keičiantis augalo lapo padečiai Saules atžvilgiu, lape kyla temperatūros pulsacijos. Резюме Растения потребляют солнечную лучевую энергию, которая является основой существования биосферы. 1–2% абсорбированной лучевой энергии они используют на фотосинтез. В натуральных условиях при малейшем дуновении ветра листья растений меняют свое положение относительно Солнца. Колеблющийся лист получает переменное количество лучевой энергии, которое вызывает изменения в энергетическом балансе листа растения, что сказывается на переменном выделении тепла в листе. Анализируя пульсации солнечной лучевой энергии в листе растения, установлено, что при крайних положениях листа относительно Солнца на 10, 20 и 30 градусов на лист попадает соответственно на 1,5%, 6% и 13% меньше лучевой энергии. При периодическом колебании листа, когда амплитуда его колебания составляет 10 градусов, за известный промежуток времени солнечная лучевая энергия, попадающая на поверхность листа, уменьшается до 1,6%, а при амплитуде колебания до 30 градусов соответственно количество лучевой энергии на поверхности листа растения уменьшается до 14%. Установлено, что суммарное количество солнечной лучевой энергии во время пульсации не зависит от частоты колебания листа за одинаковый промежуток времени. Пульсации солнечной лучевой энергии при изменении положения листа растения относительно Солнца вызывают температурные пульсации в листе.


1878 ◽  
Vol 27 (185-189) ◽  
pp. 49-50

The author refers to the work already done in the new map of the Solar Spectrum as enabling the chemical constitution of the Sun’s atmosphere to be studied under more favourable conditions. He shows that, the work already done enables him to confirm the presence of Sr, Pb, Cd, K, Ce and U, and also that it indicates the probability of the presence of Va, Pd, Mo, In, Li, Rb, Cs, Bi, Sn, La, Gl, Yt or Er.


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