Search results for "REMOTE"

Sentinel-3/FLEX Biophysical Product Confidence Using Sentinel-2 Land-Cover Spatial Distributions

2021

The estimation of biophysical variables from remote sensing data raises important challenges in terms of the acquisition technology and its limitations. In this way, some vegetation parameters, such as chlorophyll fluorescence, require sensors with a high spectral resolution that constrains the spatial resolution while significantly increasing the subpixel land-cover heterogeneity. Precisely, this spatial variability often makes that rather different canopy structures are aggregated together, which eventually generates important deviations in the corresponding parameter quantification. In the context of the Copernicus program (and other related Earth Explorer missions), this article propose…

Exploring the Validity of the Long-Term Data Record V4 Database for Land Surface Monitoring

2016

A new version of the long-term data record (LTDR)—Version 4—has been released recently by NASA. This database includes daily information for all advanced very high resolution radiometer channels, as well as ancillary data, from July 1981 up to present. This dataset is the longest available record of remotely sensed data useful for land surface monitoring, since it allows the daily estimation of vegetation indices, as well as the estimation of land surface temperature (LST). Here, we analyze the fitness of this database for land surface monitoring, especially as regards long-term trends and their validity. To that end, we estimated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), LST, as well …

Inter-comparison of stratospheric O<sub>3</sub> and NO<sub>2</sub> abundances retrieved from …

2006

Abstract. Stratospheric O3 and NO2 abundances measured by different remote sensing instruments are inter-compared: (1) Line-of-sight absorptions and vertical profiles inferred from solar spectra in the ultra-violet (UV), visible and infrared (IR) wavelength ranges measured by the LPMA/DOAS (Limb Profile Monitor of the Atmosphere/Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy) balloon payload during balloon ascent/descent and solar occultation are examined with respect to internal consistency. (2) The balloon borne stratospheric profiles of O3 and NO2 are compared to collocated space-borne skylight limb observations of the Envisat/SCIAMACHY satellite instrument. The trace gas profiles are retr…

Cloud phase identification of Arctic boundary-layer clouds from airborne spectral reflection measurements: test of three approaches

2008

Abstract. Arctic boundary-layer clouds were investigated with remote sensing and in situ instruments during the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR) campaign in March and April 2007. The clouds formed in a cold air outbreak over the open Greenland Sea. Beside the predominant mixed-phase clouds pure liquid water and ice clouds were observed. Utilizing measurements of solar radiation reflected by the clouds three methods to retrieve the thermodynamic phase of the cloud are introduced and compared. Two ice indices IS and IP were obtained by analyzing the spectral pattern of the cloud top reflectance in the near infrared (1500–1800 nm wavelength) spectral range whi…

Evidence of ice crystals at cloud top of Arctic boundary-layer mixed-phase clouds derived from airborne remote sensing

2009

Abstract. The vertical distribution of ice crystals in Arctic boundary-layer mixed-phase (ABM) clouds was investigated by airborne remote-sensing and in situ measurements during the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR) campaign in March and April 2007. Information on the spectral absorption of solar radiation by ice and liquid water cloud particles is derived from airborne measurements of solar spectral radiation reflected by these clouds. It is shown by calculation of the vertical weighting function of the measurements that the observed absorption of solar radiation is dominated by the upper cloud layers (50% within 200 m from cloud top). This vertical weighti…

2017

Abstract. In situ observations of cloud properties in complex alpine terrain where research aircraft cannot sample are commonly conducted at mountain-top research stations and limited to single-point measurements. The HoloGondel platform overcomes this limitation by using a cable car to obtain vertical profiles of the microphysical and meteorological cloud parameters. The main component of the HoloGondel platform is the HOLographic Imager for Microscopic Objects (HOLIMO 3G), which uses digital in-line holography to image cloud particles. Based on two-dimensional images the microphysical cloud parameters for the size range from small cloud particles to large precipitation particles are obtai…

Retrieval of aerosol optical thickness for desert conditions using MERIS observations during the SAMUM campaign

2011

Approximately 30% of the land surface is arid, having desert or semi-desert conditions. Aerosol originating from these regions plays a significant role in climate and atmospheric chemistry of the atmosphere. Retrieving aerosol properties from space-borne platforms above desert conditions, where the surface reflectance is usually very bright, is a challenging task. The proportion of the surface to top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectance can reach values over 90%, especially for wavelength above 500 nm. For these reasons detailed knowledge of aerosol and surface optical properties from these regions is required to separate atmosphere from intrinsically bright surfaces. An approach to retrieve aer…

Evaluation of Disaggregation Methods for Downscaling MODIS Land Surface Temperature to Landsat Spatial Resolution in Barrax Test Site

2016

Thermal infrared (TIR) data are usually acquired at a coarser spatial resolution (CR) than visible and near infrared (VNIR). Several disaggregation methods have been recently developed to enhance the TIR spatial resolution using VNIR data. These approaches are based on the retrieval of a relation between TIR and VNIR data at CR, or training of a neural network, to be applied at the fine resolution afterward. In this work, different disaggregation methods are applied to the combination of two different sensors in the experimental test site of Barrax, Spain. The main objective is to test the feasibility of these techniques when applied to satellites provided with no TIR bands. Landsat and mod…

Simulation of Future Geostationary Ocean Color Images

2012

The objective of this work is to simulate global images that would be provided by a theoretical ocean color sensor on a geostationary orbit at longitude 0, in order to assess the range of radiance value data reaching the sensor throughout the day for 20 spectral bands similar to those of the Ocean and Land Color Imager (OLCI). The secondary objective is to assess the illumination and viewing geometries that result in sunglint. For this purpose, we combined a radiative transfer model for ocean waters (Hydrolight) and a radiative transfer model for atmosphere (MODTRAN) to construct the simulated radiance images at the sea surface and at the Top-Of-Atmosphere (TOA). Bio-optical data from GlobC…

Factors for inconsistent aerosol single scattering albedo between SKYNET and AERONET

2016

SKYNET and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) retrieved aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA) values of four sites, Chiba (Japan), Pune (India), Valencia (Spain), and Seoul (Korea), were compared to understand the factors behind often noted large SSA differences between them. SKYNET and AERONET algorithms are found to produce nearly same SSAs for similarity in input data, suggesting that SSA differences between them are primarily due to quality of input data due to different calibration and/or observation protocols as well as difference in quality assurance criteria. The most plausible reason for high SSAs in SKYNET is found to be underestimated calibration constant for sky radiance (ΔΩ). T…